Say goodbye to that illegal turn to get past the herm in front of the Jean Hasbrouck house: Huguenot Street in New Paltz is now officially closed to vehicular traffic from that point to Broadhead Avenue. Seeing old utility poles planted in the ground — between which car-stopping chains are now strung — may come as a surprise to infrequent readers of the New Paltz Times, but the idea has been discussed in public since at least June, 2016.
The barriers are chains because access for emergency vehicles is still necessary on what remains a village road. There remains room around the sides for pedestrians and “cautiously-moving cyclists,” according to the agreement between the Village of New Paltz and Historic Huguenot Street (HHS) officials. The closure comes from the same concern which led to the oft-ignored “no turns” rule at the monument, namely concern that vehicular traffic was damaging the foundations of the stone houses. From this point forward, this stretch of Huguenot Street will be a public space ideal for holding events. Removal of snow and refuse will now fall to HHS personnel, who also hope to eventually raise enough money to replace the asphalt with something a bit more historic.
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