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Consultant urges field surveys as Ulster County studies rail-trail corridor options
Summary
A consultant told an Ulster County committee that lidar and desktop maps understate site complexity for a proposed rail-trail corridor, flagging wetlands, steep fills and rock cuts and saying a final report due by July will include cost estimates calibrated to prevailing-wage bid rates.
A presenter told the Ulster County Legislature’s Trails Advisory Committee that the county’s corridor study remains at a concept level and will be used to support funding applications and preliminary design if the county chooses an option. The presenter said the final study will be turned in "by July 1" and emphasized that field surveys are required before accurate engineering decisions can be made.
The presenter said cost estimates will be prepared in 2027 dollars and that the team will apply prevailing-wage bid prices for apples-to-apples comparisons rather than relying on in-kind discounts. "There’s been a number of discussions ... that they'll provide in-kind services and we could do it for cheaper ... but in order to keep everything standardized, we're going to follow what typical bid prices would be," the presenter said.
The presentation highlighted technical issues that desktop data can obscure. The presenter showed lidar-derived contours and warned they can smooth vertical features: "...it gives you a good idea of what's there, but as you can see how that's kind of rounded ... it's not rounded, it's vertical." He said staff will conduct on-the-ground measurements "every 10 ft, every 5 ft" for accurate geometry.
Engineering constraints include rock cuts where combined rail-and-trail sections would require rock removal, and high-fill sections that range from roughly 4 ft to as much as 25 ft in places. The presenter said about a quarter of the corridor includes such high fills, which raise geotechnical stability and cost concerns.
Wetlands and vernal pools also affect feasibility. The presenter flagged a Stony Hollow fill area with wetlands on both sides and said earlier environmental mappers can miss features: "These wetlands also are not always as accurate as possible ... we need this field work." He cited the Ashokan Rail Trail boardwalk as an example of doing sensitive work in wet areas without heavy equipment and said Army Corps of Engineers and DEC field reviews will be necessary to identify biological resources.
Committee members asked about right-of-way issues. Legislator Berardi asked whether encroachments had been found; the presenter said the county planning department will assist with deed and property-line research and that the report will include a right-of-way section.
The presenter announced an updated briefing at the committee's May meeting and suggested committee members walk the undesignated corridor before that session if weather permits. The presentation repeatedly emphasized that the team's approach is to let engineering facts guide decisions and that any final concept will depend on field verification and permitting requirements.
Next steps: the study team will complete field surveys in the spring, refine cost estimates, and deliver the concept-level final report by the announced deadline. The committee will receive an updated presentation at its May meeting.
