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9 new year’s resolutions for Cuomo

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been a leader in supporting the tourist economy of the Adirondacks. With this in mind, here are some new year’s resolutions we hope the governor will adopt for 2016.

RESOLUTION No. 1: I will confront reality and move expeditiously regarding the best use of the state-owned rail corridor that runs through the Adirondacks from Old Forge to Lake Placid.

BACKSTORY: Most of this 90-mile-long public resource has been sitting idly – the tracks rusting and ties rotting – since regular rail service ended a half-century ago. Elsewhere, as part of a national trend, rail-to-trail conversions have become a magnet for bikers, joggers, walkers, bird watchers, fishers, skiers and snowmobilers. (The state has proposed turning part of our rail corridor into a recreation trail and part into an extended tourist train operation.)

RESOLUTION No. 2: As proposed by my state agencies, I will convert the Lake Placid-Tupper Lake section of the corridor into a multi-use trail for people of all ages and physical abilities. These include parents pushing baby joggers, small children riding tricycles or bikes with training wheels, handicapped people in wheelchairs, commuters on bicycles, elderly strollers, athletes in training, and those of all ages, shapes and sizes seeking regular, safe, healthy exercise far from the distractions of road traffic.

BACKSTORY: There are now 22,000 miles of “rail trails” throughout the country, and this number is growing fast. Many of these easy, level, scenic trails attract hundreds of thousands of users every year. They have helped to revitalize local communities, and they have improved the quality of life for residents and visitors.

RESOLUTION No. 3: I will upgrade railroad transportation where fast, reliable service is desperately needed, e.g., between New York City, Albany and Montreal. But I will not waste another nickel in maintaining a near-bankrupt, seasonal tourist train operating between Saranac Lake and Lake Placid – a project that has had almost 20 years to prove itself and has failed to do so.

BACKSTORY: The “compromise” proposal by the state Department of Environmental Conservation and Department of Transportation would extend the tourist train now operating between Utica and Big Moose all the way north to Tupper Lake, a painfully slow 106-mile journey that few tourists would likely want to endure – and rarely (if ever) more than once.

RESOLUTION No. 4: I will recognize the recent reversal of support for the rail trail by the town board of Harrietstown for what it was: a shortsighted, ill-informed action by elected representatives working against the best interests of their constituents. I will also remember that most of the other local governments along the corridor continue to support the rail trail idea because it will bring substantial economic, recreational and health benefits to their towns and villages.

BACKSTORY: The rail trail is also supported by more than 400 local businesses and 12,000 petitioners who recognize the economic and recreational benefits of rail trails nationwide, such as the hugely popular Island Line Trail on Lake Champlain in Vermont, the Virginia Creeper Trail in the Blue Ridge Mountains (250,000 annual visitor days in 2014) and the Withlacoochee State Trail, now one of Florida’s most popular state parks, with 2014 attendance of 405,000 and a direct economic impact of $30,139,500 (Source: Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Office of Park Planning).

RESOLUTION No. 5: I will push ahead with the 34-mile rail-to-trail conversion linking Lake Placid, Saranac Lake and Tupper Lake, and I will evaluate its success before allowing the state to extend the tourist train from Big Moose to Tupper Lake, a move that would block any future extension of the rail trail to Old Forge.

BACKSTORY: A 90-mile recreation trail through the Adirondacks would be an even greater tourist attraction than the 34-mile trail connecting the Tri-Lakes.

RESOLUTION No. 6: I will promote the health benefits of rail trails in the Adirondacks and statewide as an ideal venue for regular, easy exercise (walking, running, bicycling) by people of all ages and physical ability.

BACKSTORY: Two-thirds of Americans are overweight, and one-third are obese, an alarming trend that has led to a national diabetes epidemic. Part of the problem can be traced to the need for exercise starting at a young age and continuing through life – a need that rail trails help to fulfill but tourist trains cannot.

RESOLUTION No. 7: I pledge to make this rail trail a reality without further debate and delay, recognizing that the only outdoor recreation amenity (aside from ocean surfing) that we still don’t have in the Adirondacks is one enjoyed by countless communities around the country. That missing component is a year-round, multi-purpose trail through some of the loveliest natural landscapes anywhere.

RESOLUTION No. 8: I will celebrate the history of railroading in the Adirondacks by telling (and showing) rail trail users how the railroad of the 19th and early 20th centuries opened up the region to lumbering and mining, “rusticating” tourists and a flood of health seekers. To commemorate this remarkable past, we will place interpretive signs and kiosks along the trail and utilize train stations and other structures as mini-museums.

BACKSTORY: Through similar means, rail trails from Maine to Florida are celebrating their local history, opening a window on the past for both residents and visitors.

RESOLUTION No. 9: I will lead the inaugural bike ride from Lake Placid to Tupper Lake when the Adirondack Rail Trail opens next year.

Dick Beamish is a resident of Saranac Lake, founder of the Adirondack Explorer newsmagazine and a board member of Adirondack Recreational Trail Advocates.

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