Work on Poughkeepsie Bridge begins

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May 28, 2008

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - The "Walkway Over the Hudson" group broke ground yesterday on a $30 million project to overhaul the long-dormant ex-New Haven Railroad bridge over the Hudson River. The bridge will serve as an elevated hiking trail and a state park. State, federal, and private money is funding the rebuilding effort.

The Poughkeepsie Journal reported the walkway group wants to get the work done and open the bridge to the public by September 2009, in time for the 400th anniversary celebration of Henry Hudson's exploration of the river that now bears his name. The state is planning a historical observance called the Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial.

The Poughkeepsie Bridge is a steel cantilever single-track bridge spanning the Hudson between Poughkeepsie and Highland, N.Y. It was completed in 1889; New Haven successor Penn Central closed it after a 1974 fire.

NJ Transit to push forward on reopening Lackawanna Cutoff

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June 2, 2008

NEWARK, N.J. - The New Jersey Transportation Planning Authority tomorrow plans to announce the first step toward reopening the abandoned Lackawanna Cutoff for commuter service, the Morris County Daily Record has reported. The authority intends to pursue federal funds to open a 7.3-mile stretch of the line to Andover, N.J.

Conrail abandoned the 88-mile right-of-way and stripped it of its track in 1982, and the state bought it in 2001. New Jersey Transit has talked about reinstalling track over the entire line in order to run commuter trains to Scranton, Pa., a project that would cost an estimated $551 million. Restoring the stretch to Andover would cost $36.6 million, a total more likely to get federal backing.

The new line would diverge at Port Morris, just west of NJ Transit's stop at the Landing section of Roxbury, on the Montclair-Boonton line