Despite agency’s vote, train supporters say the long battle over the state-owned rail corridor is not over. By Phil Brown The Adirondack Park Agency voted 9-1 in February to approve a controversial proposal to split a state-owned rail corridor into a rail segment and a trail segment, but the debate over the best use of the corridor is not over. The proposal calls for removing thirty-four miles of track between Lake Placid and Tupper Lake and fixing up forty-five miles of largely unused track between Tupper Lake and Big Moose. If implemented, Adirondack Scenic Railroad will have to discontinue a seasonal tourist train >>More
State mulls rail decision
Public remains split over the best use of 80-mile corridor running through wild lands. By Phil Brown After four public meetings on the future of the eighty-mile rail corridor between Big Moose and Lake Placid, the public seems as divided as ever, and the state now must make a decision sure to leave many people unhappy. The Department of Environmental Conservation and Department of Transportation plan to review the public comments and make a recommendation for the best use of the state-owned corridor. After the public has had a chance to weigh in on that recommendation, the departments will make >>More
State revisits rail plan
Officials propose removing the tracks between Tupper Lake and Lake Placid to create a bike path. By Phil Brown For several years, people have been arguing over the future of a little-used rail corridor running through the heart of Adirondack wilderness. In June, the state offered a compromise, but partisans on both sides say they won’t give up the fight. Under the state’s proposal, the tracks between Tupper Lake and Lake Placid (thirty-four miles) would be replaced with a multi-use trail, but the tracks south of Tupper Lake (fifty-six miles) would remain intact. “This is just a proposal. We’re still going to >>More
Rail-trail questions
ARTA has no guarantees that the state would pay for or manage proposed recreational trail. By Brian Mann FOR MORE THAN TWO years, rail-trail activists have been pushing state officials to end decades of financial support for the Adirondack Scenic Railroad and convert a ninety-mile rail corridor between Old Forge and Lake Placid into a year-round multi-use recreational trail. Adirondack Recreational Trail Advocates (ARTA) has argued that the tourism train has been a financial failure, requiring too much taxpayer support, and claimed that a rail trail would provide a bigger tourism draw. Since incorporating in February 2012, ARTA has barraged >>More