Putnam Trailway officially opens first 11 miles

By CARA MATTHEWS
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: Oct. 06, 2001)

MAHOPAC — Siobhan Delamere Fitzpatrick's 1 1/2-year-old son, Cole, loves the new Putnam Trailway so much he's been eyeing his baby carriage more often.

"We just walk down from the house, and we're there," said Fitzpatrick, 33, a champion speed skater who does in-line skating on the trail to train. "He loves it. He points to the stroller and wants to go for a walk."

The Fitzpatricks watched a ribbon-cutting ceremony yesterday to officially open the 1.8-mile pathway from Baldwin Place on the Somers line to Bucks Hollow Road in Mahopac. Construction started in July, but planning began more than 10 years ago.

"I use this trail ... but every time I got to this point, I would have to stop and turn around and go back. Now, I don't have to do that anymore," said Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano, who cut a red ribbon on the Putnam side with Putnam County Executive Robert Bondi.

Many more miles of trailway are planned in Putnam.

Part two of the Putnam Trailway — 5.7 miles — will continue on the abandoned Putnam Division of the New York Central Railroad to Seminary Hill Road in Carmel. Deputy Putnam County Executive Donald Smith said the county expects to seek bids on that piece in January. The cost is estimated at $8.1 million.

The final 3.9-mile portion will be from Seminary Hill Road to Brewster. That won't be completed until 2004-05, Smith said. The cost is estimated at $5.3 million.

The federal government paid for 80 percent of the $1.2 million it cost to construct the first leg. The state picked up the rest.

The formula for the second and third phases of the trail will be 80 percent federal, 10 percent state and 10 percent Putnam County.

Another trail that Putnam County is planning is on the old Maybrook railroad, from the Dutchess-Putnam line to Danbury, Conn. That project will be cheaper because it will be built entirely along an old railroad bed, Smith said.

The first phase of the 13.6-mile trail will be 3.7 miles from the Dutchess County line to Route 164 in Patterson. Second will be a 5.4-mile stretch from Brewster to Danbury. The project will end with the 4.5 miles in the middle, connecting Patterson and Brewster.

Al Silbert, 56, of Mahopac had completed 15 miles of his 20-mile cycling trek through Putnam and Westchester counties when he came upon the news conference yesterday.

"My wife and I walk it, and she thinks it's the nicest part of the whole trail," he said.

Jane Daniels, a board member for the Hudson River Valley Greenway Conservancy, biked from her job at the Mahopac Library to the news conference.

"With it about a block away from where I work, I'm going to get some exercise at lunchtime," she said.

Westchester's trail runs from Somers to Yonkers, 36 miles. Spano said it has been one of the most popular initiatives undertaken in the county.

Westchester County started working on its trailway in the 1980s, said Lawrence Salley, commissioner of transportation for Westchester. It is largely complete, except for about three miles of missing links.

Lynne Arnold, president of the Lake Mahopac Garden Club, said group members will plant bulbs in the next segment of the trailway.

Barry Leibowitz, president of the Putnam Rail Trail Association, said his group wants to find individuals or businesses that will care for parts of the trail. For more information, call 845-278-5990, or write the association at P.O. Box 801, Mahopac, NY 10541.