South Nyack Board to Vote on Shared-Use Path Plan Jan. 12

The South Nyack Board of Trustees will be voting on a preferred New NY Bridge Shared‐Use Path concept at a meeting Jan. 12.

The village has argued with the state over the path and the need to mitigate problems and enhance opportunities when pedestrians and bicyclists come into South Nyack to travel the path across the Hudson.

As the task force said in its presentation Dec. 1,

Residents and officials of the Village of South Nyack have maintained that without proper accommodation of the SUP, the Village will be faced with only burdens from the influx of visitors. These burdens include such issues as wear and tear on our streets, excessive parking on Village streets, lack of restroom facilities, and pedestrian and bicycle safety. It was also determined early‐on that the majority of traffic traversing our village roads to access the bridge entrance is from vehicles coming up from the south and accessing the Thruway from South Broadway. Furthermore, there are no other interchanges along the NYS Thruway that connect to a village road; all connections are to State or County roads because of the road construction requirements to carry large volumes of traffic.

The original approved New NY Bridge plans from 2012 had the SUP terminating at Smith Avenue, a quiet, residential, dead‐end street -- and village officials objected strenuously and pushed the state to stop and listen.

Now there are four concepts actively under consideration.

The village’s Task Force supports Concept ‘F’ as the best choice because they believe it reasonably addresses the concerns expressed by residents and officials while requiring a moderate amount of construction. Concepts ‘D’ and ‘H’ are very complex, requiring an excessive amount of new infrastructure. Concept ‘E’ would require the least amount of new construction, but does not meet the concerns of the residents -- too far from the SUP’s first point of access and with safety concerns at the crossing of the Thruway exit ramp.

Read about the concepts here.

If you have any comments regarding these concepts, please submit them to Mayor Christian at bonnie.christian@southnyack.ny.gov by Friday, Jan. 8.