A special thanks to NY Senator Charles Schumer (D) for negotiating the deal with CSX for acquisition of the CSX ROW property in the city of Poughkeepsie by the Walkway organization - the 'friends" of the Walkway.I had read that originaly CSX had wanted $6M for the property but the Dyson foundation had apraised the property at only $2M.The final deal negotiated by Mr. Shumer would be for a tad more than $1M.Once the Walkway group has legal ownership of the property,they are to turn the property over
to Dutchess county.The undeveloped ROW between the Walkway OTH state park and the current northern terminus of the Dutchess RT will be a part of the Dutchess RT - phase 5. Phase 4, already planned, will be for a new bridge over SR 55 and will connect the phase 2 section with the southern section.

for a link to the updated RR property map in the city of Poughkeepsie please visit my Hudson Valley - cycling adventures and area trailways report
blog at: trailways.bigk12603.com

There is now an 8.3 mile long contiguous trail - paved with a soft path for runners/walkers - from a bit beyond the old depot (under restoration) in Hopewell Jct. (parking and trailhead access),town of
East Fishkill,to Manchester Rd. in the town of Poughkeepsie. (old rt. 55 behind Page lumber - parking and trailhead access)

The rail trail now includes educational interpretive signs,directional-mileage signs at intersections
and engraved wood mileage markers.There is parking,trail access,and a kiosk at Diddell Rd. in the town
of Wappingers.The new signs and wood mileage markers are also being installed on the 2.4 mi. phase 2 section mostly in the town of Poughkeepsie.This phase 2 section goes from the northern terminus at Morgan Lake in the city of Poughkeepsie to Overocker Rd. in the town of Poughkeepsie.This section of the RT opened to the public in June,2009.This section will remain as an isolated section until the completion of phase 4, which will include a 900 foot long bridge over a 4 lane state hwy. (SR 55) This would,currently as
of 06-15-11,make 10.7 miles total of open rail trail.


NOTE:mile 0.0 has been changed a tad and the RT is now shorter by .1 mi. - the NEW wood mileage markers DO NOT coincide with the OLD green metal mileage markers.

also - I had originaly thought the soft section of the trail was ostensibly for Equestrian use (and also runners/walkers) but does not seem so - seems there has been a change since the original 2006 design and trail usage

The section from Old Manchester Rd to Lake Logan is now open!!! Wonderfully done. Everyone should take advantage of this gem of Dutchess County. Dream and hope for the day when this trail fully connects with Hudson Valley Rail Trail.

I have begun using the open parts of this trail to bike commute from Poughkeepsie to Hopewell Junction. At Diddell Road I came across the crew working on the next section of the trail. While she said they hope to have it open by May 15th, it should be definitely in service by June 1st. I cannot wait! This is going to be an awesome trail when it is done.

As of September 26 2010, work on the new CR 49 Titusville Rd.overpass has finaly begun. I could see the foundation for one of the the new bridge supports on the north side. With the recent rain the, hole for the foundation had filled with water and only the top of the concrete form could be seen. Work on the new grade up to the bridge had begun. Most oddly, I had noted on the south side the new grade was offset from the grade on the north side. Either someone was reading the plans upside down, or there will be a very unusual L shaped RT pedestrian bridge at this crossing.

There is STILL no bridge over Maloney Rd. as of this date. Almost all of the forms have been removed,except for 2 small protrusions, presumabely to anchor the new bridge once finaly in place.There was no activity at Diddell Rd.At the Sprout Creek bridge,near the SR376 crossing in East Fishkill, I was now able to see the exact nature of the work being done. It seems, the old concrete supports are not being totaly removed, but rather just the outer most layer.New re-bar is being put over the remaining old concrete supports,with forms, and presumabely new concrete will be poured into the new forms. There was evidence of bridge iron work being done,and there was a new I beam steel column on the side. At the SR36 crossing, there has been no new work. Most noteably,the section of the ROW on the south side, that connects with the completed phase 1 section, has YET to be worked on.The Dutchess County gov. site for this RT and the Harlem Valley RT clearly states that phase 3 would be completed by the end of THIS year.However,with all the work YET to be done, and the soon-to-be Winter weather,perhaps the DC trails site should have read "phase 3 completion at the end of 2011"?

there is quite a bit more than a "few miles" between the 2 open sections as of July 2010 - there is actualy 7.9 miles of undeveloped ROW between the 2 sections - the phase 2 section here in Poughkeepsie is "classier" that the section to the south - the phase 2 section has a paved parking lot at Overovker Rd. with a kiosk - at the northern trail head terminus (and will be forever) at Morgan Lake technicaly in the CITY of Poughkkepsie there is a small like county park within the Morgan Lake city park with benches,a kiosk,flowers and now a new memorial for Michael Murphy - the southern end does not go all the way to the old depot in Hopewell Jct. (the village and RR)

phase 3 (a,b and c) construction is underway from CR 49 Manchester Rd. to the north end of phase 1 and that last 1/2 mile bit to the depot and a tad beyond

for a full (much longer) report on this trail (and others in the area) and pictures please visit my Hudson Valley Cycling adventures and trailways report blog at: http://trailways.bigk12603.com

So far, there are two pieces completed with a parking area at the ends of each segment. The paved piece (1.8 miles) outside of Hopewell is paralleled by a packed dirt / pea gravel lane, I assume might be for horses?? Not sure about the intent of this, as the other section from Overrocker Rd to Morgan lake (about 2.5 miles) doesn't have this 'feature'.

Work has begun on the section between these, although it seems to be off to a slow start. The big question is whether the County will be able to acquire the rights from CSX to the 1 mile piece from Morgan Lake (near DCC) to the foot of the Walkway Over The Hudson. If this segment gets done, then we'll have a seriously world class linear park!