Rhinebeck councilmember outlines proposed trail route, says neighbors prefer roadside alignment

Councilmember Dana Colleen updated the Rhinebeck Town Board on a pre-application submitted to the New York State Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) seeking federal funds for a multi-use trail.

Colleen said extensive outreach produced clear preferences: neighbors along the proposed corridor generally favored a roadside alignment rather than routing the path through the utility right-of-way that runs between gardens and homes. Residents cited preservation of rural character and privacy as the chief reasons.

Colleen cautioned that a roadside alignment can be more visible and increases the chance the path would produce mode shift (walk/bike trips), which is a desirable scoring factor for TAP. She also flagged engineering and safety concerns near the train station during peak travel times, where parked vehicles can make a narrow road unsafe for a combined bike/vehicle alignment without physical separation.

Possible low-cost mitigations discussed include installing 'sharrows' (shared-lane markings) on Orchard Street and converting a short block of Hutton Street to pedestrian-only access with vehicle exceptions for driveways. Colleen warned that the state and federal reviewers may prefer a dedicated multi-use path (a 'Cadillac' plan) for scoring, and that a partial compromise could weaken the grant application’s competitiveness.

Quotes in the meeting captured residents’ safety concerns: Colleen said, "people are very bad actors and they park all along the road there... I don't know if adding a lane for bikes ... can make this safe enough." The board asked staff to continue public outreach and technical review.

Next steps: The town will await TAP pre-review feedback and continue outreach; Colleen said she will respond to constituent letters and refine the proposal before a final application.