About a month ago, NY State filed a notice of appeal of acting NY State Supreme Court Justice Robert Main’s ruling to annul the state’s rail-trail project in the Adirondack Park. Although this particular act wasn’t an official appeal, it’s been recently announced that three state agencies have decided to issue an appeal before the end of the month.
The Adirondack Rail-Trail Project
In May 2016, the NY State Departments of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and Transportation (DOT), the Adirondack Park Agency (APA), and NY State Governor Andrew Cuomo approved of a new rail-trail project in the Tri-Lakes Region of the Adirondack Park.
The construction of this rail-trail would involve removing 34 miles of historic railroad track between Lake Placid and Tupper Lake. In its place, a multi-use rail-trail would be built in an effort to increase the number of recreational opportunities in the area, such as hiking, biking, and more.
However, at the time of the project’s approval, the Adirondack Rail Preservation Society was leasing the rail line from NY State and offering train rides via Adirondack Scenic Railroad. If this rail-trail was built, then the company would have to shut down its services between Lake Placid and Tupper Lake. As such, they issued a lawsuit against the state departments to try and save the tracks.
Lawsuit & Annulment
After months of reviewing the evidence provided by both sides, the judge in charge of the case, acting NY State Supreme Court Justice Robert Main, announced in late September that he would fully annul the state’s rail-trail due to a number of lingering issues.
Although NY State was initially silent after Main’s decision, in early November, they filed a notice of appeal of the judge’s decision. This meant that while they weren’t officially appealing yet, the state would have the option to in the near future.
Now, a month after they filed a notice of appeal, the Sun Community News has reported that the NY State DEC, DOT, and the APA will move forward with their appeal.
The Next Step
In the appeal, the three state agencies will be represented by the Plattsburgh Office of New York’s Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. Once they’ve filed their legal argument, the case will go to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, Third Judicial Department, where Main’s decision will be reviewed.
NY State has until the end of December to finalize their argument to try and get the Adirondack rail-trail project back on track.
Do you agree with the state’s decision to appeal the project’s annulment?
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Source:
- Sun Community News – AG appeals Judge Main ruling on railroad conversion
Absolutely appeal. The trail will be a great economic boom. As a hospitality business feet from the track , if the trail conversion came through Beaver River, it would mean generations would stay in business here.
Yet a trail can be next to the railroad too
Not here.
It’s not technically impossible, the problem is political :$
As a trail, just remove the tracks and your in business. As a tracks, it all has to be completed, we rely on one operator, the railroad has yet to pay any maintenance as in their permit for the last 20 + year’s. D O T permits snowmobile use, but they pay their own way and go to many businesses.
We can dump those tracks, ties and ballast in the Catskill Mountains. They won’t even notice down there.
Here we go again.
The state is going to throw more money away on legal fees and busy work, They’ll put off doing anything for the region yet again. They’ll force the railroad to keep spending money on legal fees instead of investing in a proven economic resource for the region.
The state is going to try to force through a plan that has serious flaws above and beyond the legal issues. The anti-rail people will continue to throw out the same fact-free arguments, the same old lies about the railroad, and the same tired old insults.
Think how many new Rangers the state could put into the high peaks, for the money they will be spending on this. The rail line could have been restored all the way by now, with service all the way from Lake Placid to Utica. The real trail supporters could be finalizing their plans and getting started after all the wasted years when the state did nothing. Lake Placid could start looking at how the rails could ease their traffic problems. The hotels in Saranac Lake could be looking at rail tour packages. Tupper Lake could be gearing up for a whole new class of visitors. And so on.
Rail with Trail would be a win-win
I do not agree!!!!
Governor Cuomo has done a great dis-service to the people of Saranac Lake and to future generations of Northern Adirondackers. Instead trying to circumvent the law, the Governor should make the commitment to fulfilling the 1996 Unit Management Plan that calls for the restoration of rail service connected to Amtrak in Utica, along with a network of side by side and in and out recreational trails. A win/win for all New Yorkers.