Mohonk Preserve plans to make it harder to park on the street in ridge foothills

Proposed guide rails for Gatehouse Road. (renderings courtesy of mohonk preserve)

There is no parking on town roads: the vehicle must be entirely off the pavement, or the operator has broken the law. It’s a common site on Butterville Road and Lenape Lane, where day users of Mohonk Preserve leave their vehicles regardless. There’s a plan to put up wooden guide rails to make it all but impossible to park in some of the worst locations. The New Paltz Town Board will hold an information session on it before its September 5 meeting at 6:30 p.m.

The guide rails are to be installed as part of the Mohonk Preserve foothills project, but when they’re put in, is up for debate. Preserve executive director Glenn Hoagland told board members in a letter that he would let them decide, but it would be more convenient to do the work as part of that larger project. The lot to be built likely won’t be completed until late next year, however, and town residents might want a solution sooner. Certainly highway superintendent Chris Marx does; the illegal parking is doing damage to the road shoulder, he reported. Hoagland offered the possibility of installing temporary guide ropes as one alternative.

Proposed guide rails for Butterville Road.