ADK Rail Trail receives $99,000 grant

SARANAC LAKE | The Adirondack Rail Trail Association (ARTA) recently received a nearly $99,000 Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC) Catalyst Grant to support a comprehensive, community-centered planning initiative for the 34-mile trail that connects Lake Placid, Saranac Lake, and Tupper Lake. With the Adirondack Rail Trail now complete, this funding will enable ARTA to facilitate a holistic planning process that brings together state and municipal partners, community members, and regional stakeholders to create a unified vision for its future. Focusing on the intersection of the trail and its communities, this planning process will examine potential community connector routes to link the Adirondack Rail Trail to downtowns, facilities, parks, and other cultural attractions. It will also address long-term maintenance needs, wayfinding signage between the trail and downtown, and the incorporation of user facilities along the trail, such as restrooms, water bottle filling stations, bike racks, repair stops, parking, and more. "This plan will help us look into what visitor needs are and how to address them," said ARTA Executive Director Julia Goren. "This will also help us identify funding to make those potential amenities become a reality." Construction of the 34-mile trail was divided into three phases, with the final leg from Floodwood to Tupper Lake opening in October. ARTA is now working on the final phase, which includes incorporating amenities, such as additional signage and seating. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is now working on trail signs, shared Goren. Signage plans will be finalized sometime this year and installed sometime next year. Planning is also underway at the Union Depot Station in Saranac Lake, with the possibility of installing permanent, accessible bathrooms within the station. As for the Lake Placid Station, the Open Space Institute Land Trust also recently received $300,000 in funding to construct a state-of-the-art trailhead and parking area at the eastern terminus of the Adirondack Rail Trail in the Village of Lake Placid. The project will include a pavilion, restrooms, parking, trailhead signage, and bike racks. More on this grant award will be revealed in next week's edition of The Sun. Regardless, Goren expressed how much she's looking forward to the new year, as it is the first full year following the trail's completion. Except for a two-mile section of paved trail in the Village of Saranac Lake, the trail is primarily crushed stone, suitable for biking, walking, and running during the warmer months, and for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and snowmobiling throughout the snowy months. Other details about the trail — where to park, find a map, and rent out bikes, skis, snowshoes, and snowmobiles — can be found online at adirondackrailtrail.org.

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ADK Rail Trail receives $99,000 grant

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