Nearly 1,200 residents respond to O&W Rail Trail Corridor Study

Port Jervis. The survey was to gauge public interest in a 57-mile trail from Kingston to Port Jervis.

The Open Space Institute recently issued a study asking residents to voice their interest in a 57-mile trail spanning from Kingston to Port Jervis known as the O&W Trail. According to the organizers, nearly 1,200 residents have already responded. The online survey will remain open through late June, 2024.

OSI has also hosted three open house events with more than 120 community members. The organizers say both the in-person events and the survey results will be used to make sure a connected trail system along the O&W Corridor will meet local needs.

The O&W Trail Corridor Study is one part of OSI’s larger Growing Greenways plan, a long-term effort to connect several existing Hudson Valley trail networks with the goal of creating a multiuse recreational trail network that spans more than 250 miles and connects more than 50 communities in Ulster, Sullivan, and Orange counties.

Renovations along the O&W Rail Trail continue. OSI noted that once trail improvements to the O&W are completed, the fragmented former railroad corridor will be transformed into a connected, 57-mile greenway trail, forming the “backbone” of the Growing Greenways trail network.

“The vision to restore the connection between Port Jervis and Kingston is a community driven effort fueled by partnerships between municipalities, non-profits, businesses, and individual citizens,” OSI said in its update. “By spearheading this effort, OSI is setting the framework for a trail network which could be completed by local partners willing and able to implement the vision.”

The survey can be found at bit.ly/4d8RzvV. For more information on OSI’s efforts, visit openspaceinstitute.org/O&W.