Thanks to U.S. senator Chuck Schumer, Kingston will receive another $1.5 million for a roadway elevation project in the downtown area of the Strand. The funds will be in addition to the $21.7 million already received through a RAISE grant last year.
Born of a desire to lift the roadway and the sidewalks along the Rondout Creek above the flood zone, the funding tucked into the federal budget which passed March 27 will connect the business strip at the bottom of Broadway along the waterfront from TR Gallo Park past the maritime and trolley museums with the previously funded ADA-accessible path out to the rail-trail, through the riverside park, and past the beach at the Hudson River bank up to the Hutton brickyards to the Empire State Trail and the Sojourner Truth State Park.
In addition to the engineering upgrades, mayor Steve Noble envisions fencing, interpretation of historical places, and the construction of a small building to exhibit 9/11 artifacts.
Kingston’s farthest east-adjacent neighborhood, Ponckhockie, will see improvements at the intersection of North Street and Delaware Avenue, which site is on the flat land at the bottom of the hilly section of the neighborhood.
Every time a heavy rainfall and a high tide coincide, the road outside the city’s wastewater treatment plant along East Strand takes on water deep enough to come in through the bottom of the car doors of anyone without a raised suspension. The problems along that stretch, 75 yards or so, will also be addressed.
New trees and electrical charging stations are slated for planting.
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