The public forum “Balancing Passenger Rail Safety with Public River Access” attracted over 110 people to express their opposition to Amtrak’s plans to install gates and fences along the Hudson in Dutchess and Columbia counties.
NEW Forum Photos
NEW Full Video of the Forum
Thanks to Karl Sipperley of Panda TV, the full video of the forum is available on YouTube.
| Forum Video Table of Contents | |||
| 0:40 - 6:40 | Supervisor Robert Beaury - Town of Germantown | 46:22 - 58:15 | Q & A - Led by Jeff Anzevino |
| 6:40 - 11:50 | Supervisor Elizabeth Spinzia - Town of Rhinebeck | 58:15 - 1:18:26 | Peter Melewski - McLaren Engineering |
| 11:50 - 17:00 | Steve Rosenberg - SVP for Scenic Hudson | 1:18:26 - 1:25:23 | Larry North - Magnetic Railway Gates |
| 17:00 - 30:40 | Jeff Anzevino - Scenic Hudson | 1:25:23 - 1:37:23 | Jen Crawford - Waterfront Advisory Committee, Town of Germantown |
| 30:40 - 33:55 | Gina Giuliano - Village Trustee for town of Castleton-on-Hudson | 1:37:23 - 1:48:23 | Q & A |
| 33:55 - 42:22 | Kaare Christian - Waterfront Advisory Committee, Town of Germantown | 1:48:23 - 1:51:00 | Didi Barrett - New York State Assembly |
| 42:22 - 46:22 | Mayor Joel Griffith - Town of Tivoli | ||
Presentations and documents from the Forum:
Click headings to open.
• Jeff Anzevino, Scenic Hudson: The State of River Access
• Gina Giuliano, Trustee, Village of Castleton-on-Hudson
• Peter Melewski, PE, National Director of Strategic Planning, McLaren: Balancing Passenger Rail Safety with Public River Access
• Larry North: Magnetic Railway Gates
• Jen Crawford, Germantown Waterfront Advisory Committee: Creating Safe Public Access Along Rail Lines
• Kaare Christian, Germantown Waterfront Advisory Committee: Shoreline Rail With Trail on the Germantown Waterfront
• Jo Hills, Germantown Waterfront Advisory Committee: Recreation on the Germantown Waterfront
Mclaren White Paper
At-Grade Passenger Rail Pedestrian & Trail Crossings, Empire Corridor South
Background information on Rail With Trail and related topics:
- FHWA Rail With Trails Lessons Learned:
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/recreational_ trails/publications/rwt/ page00.cfm - RailsToTrails.org’s Rails With Trails discussion:
https://www.railstotrails.org/resourcehandler.ashx?id=2982 - Parks Trails NY’s Rails Trails brochure:
https://parks.ny.gov/recreation/trails/documents/ GettingOnTrackWorkingWithRailr oads.pdf - NY’s Recreational Use Statute:
https://codes.findlaw.com/ny/general-obligations-law/gob- sect-9-103.html - A less legalistic discussion of the recreational use statute in NY:
http://www2.dnr.cornell.edu/ext/info/pubs/LegalFinancial/ liability_boundary_posting.htm - NY’s Railroad Law:
https://codes.findlaw.com/ny/railroad-law/#!tid= N44573648D70E47D7A1BE1A3EC0C0D 20C - Which leads naturally to the topic of railroads and Federal Law preempting local law:
https://www.dot.state.mn.us/frac/PDF/landusereg.pdf - Operation Lifesaver, an educational programming organization:
https://oli.org/
The original announcement that appeared on GatesGate.