Washington Avenue in Kingston. The city will use its money to help fund a Washington Avenue Gateway.

ALBANY - the Hudson River Valley Greenway announced a total of $30,000 in matching grants have been awarded to THE City of Kingston, Town of Gardiner, Town of Ulster and the Town of Saugerties.

In full support of the Town of Ulster and the City of Kingston’s proposed Washington Avenue Gateway Corridor Development Strategy, the Greenway awarded the project $15,000 for design guidelines. The result of this project will be a set of standards to guide the redevelopment of the Washington Avenue Gateway corridor to ensure good planning, attractive design, and intermunicipal coordination. This collaborative effort builds on a previous project to extend the City’s water and sewer infrastructure into the Town of Ulster along the corridor.

 “I am very happy to work with the town of Ulster on the design standards.  The town and City of Kingston have a great working relationship,” said City of Kingston Mayor James Sottile. “The area near the traffic circle is the entrance way to the city of Kingston through the Town of Ulster and I am very pleased that the town and City are working together.”

Town of Ulster Supervisor Nick Woerner said, “I am excited to announce that the Town and the City have been approved for this grant opportunity from Hudson River Valley Greenway. The use of this money will help to implement design guidelines for the Washington Avenue Corridor, the gateway to the Town of Ulster and to the historic City of Kingston. I thank Kingston Mayor Jim Sottile and Economic Development Director Steve Finkle for their assistance and participation in submitting this grant application. We can now move forward in establishing design guidelines for this important and substantial undertaking.”

“As the first capital of New York State, Kingston is one of the most historic cities on the Hudson River.  The Town of Ulster is one of our newest Greenway Communities and I’m happy to see them working with the City of Kingston, one of our earliest Greenway Communities, on this intermuncipal project.  This project will be an example that shows us that by working together, we can encourage development that respects our region’s nationally significant heritage,” said Greenway Acting Executive Director Mark Castiglione.

The Town of Saugerties has received a $10,000 grant to develop a General Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS). This study is intended to provide residents of Saugerties with objective information and give them the opportunity to express their opinions and weigh future policy options related to economic development in the Kings Highway Corridor. 

The Town of Gardiner was awarded a $5,000 matching grant for consultant services to develop and design a pedestrian-friendly Main Street.  Already having done the preliminary engineering and a survey, the Town of Gardiner will be working to establish a sidewalk plan for the hamlet.

The Hudson River Valley Greenway is a State program within the Executive Department, established by the Greenway Act of 1991.  It is designed to encourage Hudson River Valley communities to develop projects and initiatives related to the criteria of natural and cultural resource protection, regional planning, economic development, public access to the Hudson River (as well as other regional and local resources), and heritage and environmental education. 

Visit www.hudsongreenway.state.ny.us for more information on the Greenway