Shandaken Ulster and Delaware Trail Feasibility Study

The Ulster & Delaware Corridor Revitalization Study (the “Study”) will assess the feasibility of converting an unmaintained segment of the County-owned Ulster & Delaware Railroad Corridor (“U&D Corridor) in the Town of Shandaken into a public trail for transportation and recreation purposes. The Study’s focus is on an approximately five (5) mile segment of the County’s abandoned railroad right-of-way from the hamlet of Highmount to hamlet of Big Indian.

The Study’s goals are to provide an assessment of existing conditions, evaluate potential project termini and phasing alternatives, analyze constraints and opportunities for trail conversion, and develop planning level cost estimates for trail construction, including costs for track removal, drainage improvements, trail subbase and top course installation, and improvements to existing structures, including bridges at Woodchuck Hollow and Giggle Hollow and several small areas of embankment failure. It is anticipated that the potential trail would be a crushed stone surface due to its location in the New York City Watershed similar to the Ashokan Rail Trail in the Towns of Hurley and Olive, which the County completed in 2019.

The County has hired an engineering consultant, Barton & Loguidice, D.P.C., to undertake the study under the direction of the County and a Technical Advisory Committee that includes representatives from multiple County departments, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA), the Town of Shandaken, Woodstock Land Conservancy, and Catskill Mountainkeeper. The Study is anticipated to be completed in late summer 2021.

For more information, contact Brian Slack, Principal Transportation Planner.

Phone: (845) 334-5590 | Email: bsla@co.ulster.ny.us