Accommodating Comprehensive Changes
We applaud the manner with which the Catskill Mountain Railroad has been dealing with the changes thrust its way in recent months, via a newly enthused effort on the county’s part to build a rail trail up the volunteer organization’s right of way to the county’s border with Middletown. When the story first started emerging it looked like trouble for CMRR, what with a number of official sorts down in Kingston talking about finding ways to wrest control of the county-owned rail tracks from the train guys. But then the CMRR folks got on the case and proved their willingness to play ball with whomever was willing to bring in funding to keep their dream alive.
Sure, there will be some tense times ahead as the rail trail and train folks accommodate each other in some of the narrower parts of the right-of-way. Also, there are many questions in need of answers from New York City regarding access to its lands adjacent to the reservoir. But at least everyone’s now talking, and there seems to be a sense that the nation’s (and county’s) growing awareness of people’s need for walking exercise is worth funding, and that that funding is perfectly suited to the rehabilitation of this major resource.
In the long run, we believe it might make sense to get the rail trail up and running sooner than later because it will allow for later development of the rail alternative once the right-of-way is improved from its present state and we all start showing greater resolve to move beyond our current auto-centric modes of travel to realize, again, the benefits of a working rail system not just aimed at tourist rides.
But that’s part of longer-term planning that we still need to deal with, as towns, county, a region, state, and nation, much better than’s been our normal behavior in recent years.
In particular, we’re thinking of other issues in need of strong planning thoughtfulness, from the wisdom of putting more public funding into Catskills ski areas when all our scientists are saying the future of local winters, and snow, is in serious jeopardy because of proven climate change.
We’re thinking about how some of our towns keep failing to implement or enforce comprehensive planning for a future we all know, now, will be including as many if not more major changes than we’ve already seen in recent decades. Does it really make sense to keep putting up businesses, especially without any tourism draw, along our major highway at the same time that other entities are working to make Route 28 a scenic corridor, and maybe even a bigger thoroughfare? In specific, we are worried about the precedent set by the storage units approved in Olive last week...
Getting back to the railroad, what was hopeful was the ways in which the volunteers working on the CMRR effort have been able to accommodate change and keep pushing forward. Something we should all start doing better, instead of blaming others for bringing up things we are trying to hide from.
The Catskills and Upper Esopus Valley/Route 28 corridor of ten years from now is going to be much different from what it is now. The better we understand this, and work to incorporate such change, the better off we’ll all be down the line.
PS