In December 2020, New York State announced completion of a five-year effort to create the Empire State Trail, a 750-mile bicycling and walking route from New York City through the Hudson and Champlain Valleys to Canada, and from Buffalo to Albany along the Erie Canal.
This session will provide an overview of the initiative, describe funding sources for the $300 million project, summarize the 58 construction projects completed to create the statewide route, and highlight engineering and community relations challenges to creating a 750-mile route.
Topics covered include:
– strategies for securing participation by state agencies, local governments, and non-profit partners;
– trail maintenance and operation challenges; and
– New York State marketing and tourism strategies to promote the trail to residents and future visitors.
The presentation will summarize planning and engineering guidelines developed for trail construction projects, and cover lessons learned that are applicable for the funding and creation of statewide and regional trail networks.
Identification of Need: This session will provide an overview of the history, funding, challenges, and operations of NYS’s Empire State Trail.
Learning Objectives:
- Summarize planning efforts, funding strategies, and community involvement efforts to create a statewide trail.
- Discuss strategies for aligning engagement and support from diverse state agencies and local governments for a statewide initiative.
- Review NYS’s detailed EST Design Guidelines, which capture state-of-art trail design standards to promote consistence in trail planning and construction.
