A happy rider of the Kingston Point trolley. (Photo: Phyllis McCabe)
Permeable pavement, tree plantings, restored wetlands and possibly even floating structures would both mitigate and accommodate the flooding that is expected to occur in the area more frequently thanks to climate change. An electrified trolley and docks at Kingston Point where today’s version of the dayliner would tie up, along with a bike and pedestrian path planned for the entire waterfront, would create green transport links.
The brownfield remediation sites — three are included in the site plan, although the Central Hudson gas field, which is located in the plan area, is excluded — could be transformed into restorative wetlands, depending on their fitness for development. At Kingston Point Park, the surrounding wetlands would serve as the backdrop for outdoor event spaces.
First steps to help implement the vision would consist of pop-up parks, food and cultural events, such as antiques shows and street painting, new signage and the creation of a bike path. That would be followed up, in the next two years, with the building of a food hub and other critical infrastructure to attract new investment. Two to five years down the road, the hotels and multimodal connections would be built and the wetland sites restored. In five years, new building would start to “fill in the holes.”
Gary Palumbo, senior planner and project manager at AECOM, a Buffalo-based infrastructure construction firm, said there is a proposal to expand the Riverport plan area 18 acres to the southwest, to accommodate Block Park and the former slaughterhouse site. The final Brownfield Opportunity Area Plan generic environmental impact statement “would assess the potential impact” of the Riverport Vision, if built out, he said. By state law, it needs to include a “no development” alternative as well as a look at the environmental impacts of future development according to the existing zoning, he said.
In response to criticism from audience members that the Riverport Vision doesn’t accommodate the existing retail and cultural attractions, Swanzey said the focus on the undeveloped land was designed to jumpstart funding opportunities, as well as increase the tax base — one of the city’s most intractable problems. He said he’d like Riverport “to fit into the city-wide Comprehensive Plan” which is under development and would consider including the historic Rondout District into the plan, as some people have advocated.
“This is the beginning,” Swanzey said. “Your feedback is great, so please comment.” Comments can be e-mailed to [email protected] and posted on the Hudson Riverport Facebook page.
More and more the development of the Rondout waterfront calls for a shuttle bus service along the Kingston Corridor to make it accessible from any point along Kingston’s Main Street, as defined by the Main Street Manager programs under Nancy Doskoj.
Defined as a two bus service with 15 minute inter-service times, $1 for a full days use, it celebrates the various districts and attractions all along the Corridor at the same time it makes the easily accessible to pedestrians and traffic as well, easing auto traffic on the corridor and combines well with distributed parking along that same path.
That kind of transportation ought to be part of the thinking in the Comprehensive Plan, serving the KHS, the SUNY Campus, City Hall, UPAC, Cornell Street, the Art District and the brilliant night life in Uptown, including BSP, Keegan’s and The Anchor.
There is information at kingstoncorridor.com and a Facebook page Kingston Corridor Shuttle Bus.
We have the trolley already and we have public bus that comes through the area along the East Strand at least one or twice an hour. And I am sure that Complete Streets will be putting in dedicated bike lanes even though the East Strand floods when the tide comes in.
No, we don’t have good bus service And it does not run the corridor. It is at least an hour, and sometimes two hours when the driver takes a break. Bike lanes don’t work for tourists, for family groups, for little kids… bikes are still personal transportation… the bus is different.
I’m discomfited by the kind of thinking, that says “we need what I want but not what you want”… “or “when we have what I want we won’t need that”..
It would be alien to me to think “we have a fabulous shuttle service! who needs bike lanes”.
And here, listen to Clark Richter on bus service in kingston:
beyond that, I wonder what “complete streets” is and the schedule and funding of the plan… and the routes covered… if you have any information, post the link.
I’ll gladly repeat that information on Complete Streets of Kingston on Facebook