Phase I Plans To Begin On Poughkeepsie’s ‘Urban Trail’ Project

A project that has been compared to New York City's High Line is getting closer to reality in Poughkeepsie, as the city announced that within the next few weeks, residents will see Phase I work begin.

This project, which is geared towards having a link between areas of Poughkeepsie that are currently inaccessible by pedestrians, would connect areas of the City and Town of Poughkeepsie with a scenic trail, and was voted on back in December.  It was reported that the 2.7-mile trail is expected to be built in a total of four phases, linking areas from the new Hudson Heritage shopping area to other neighborhoods in the City of Poughkeepsie.

In a release late last week from Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro, he announced that residents will begin to see work on the Urban Trail project, and that tree clearing is set to begin in early March for Phase I of the project, weather permitting.  Phase I has been described as a 1.4 mile section that will connect the Town of Poughkeepsie's Hudson Heritage development site over to Parker Avenue, also known as Route 9G, in the City of Poughkeepsie.  The Hudson Heritage site will eventually be home to a number of highly anticipated shops, restaurants and businesses, but is already drawing visitors to the brand new Shop Rite location opening this past fall.

Some of the Phase I construction work includes trees and brush clearing from the entire width of the former rail corridor, which will make way for construction later this spring to create a dual-lane pathway that will run 22 feet wide.  Next, work will begin on a 0.55 mile section of the trail, running from West Cedar Street in the town, connecting to the Dutchess Rail Trail at Parker Ave in the city, with hopes of being open to the public by the end of this year.  The entirety of Phase I, including way-finding signage, is expected to be complete by the summer of 2023.

County Executive Molinaro shared the following:

There has been much excitement and anticipation about this trail project’s development. Residents and visitors near the rail corridor will soon see the definitive signs of the project getting underway as our crews begin clearing trees to make room for this transformative trail network that will connect neighborhoods, businesses, and tourism attractions. I am grateful to all those involved for their dedication to realizing the potential of this rail corridor.

A complete timeline of the Urban Trail project, with more information about all the phases and connections can be found here, with County Executive Molinaro's full news release from February 18th located here.