POUGHKEEPSIE - If high gas prices hold up, it’s expected that Dutchess County residents will spend more time in the Hudson Valley.

Now, the Dutchess County Legislature will consider a $10 million bond for park and recreation improvements that make staying home in the Hudson Valley a more pleasurable experience.

Members of the Legislature’s Public Works Committee listened to proposals which include improvements to the Dutchess Rail Trail, Quiet Cove Riverfront, Wilcox and Bowdoin parks.

Legislature Chairman Roger Higgins said in the end, lawmakers will have to decide how much they want to spend.

“All these projects are great projects and well deserved projects, but we are operating with some fiscal concerns,” he said. Higgins said County Executive William Steinhaus has warned the legislature of a looming fiscal crisis as the economy worsens. He imposed a hiring freeze several months ago.

“You have to figure out with a fiscal crisis, what can we really afford?” said Higgins.

The rail trail improvements include buying a mile and a third of abandoned rail bed from CSX from Morgan Lake to Washington Street to be connected to the Walkway Over the Hudson. That project will convert an abandoned railroad bridge into a walkway over the river.

The walkway is expected to be completed for the 400th anniversary of the state’s celebration of Henry Hudson’s discovery of the river next fall, and it’s hoped the $4.4 million rail trail link will be completed then, too.

The completion of the rail trail link, improvements which include parking and a paved surface, will then allow bicyclists to travel from Hopewell Junction, across to the Walkway Over the Hudson, to rail trail connections in Ulster County.

Improvements to Quiet Cove Riverfront Park, a 27-acre parcel formerly part of the Hudson River Psychiatric Center, include $4.5 million worth of renovations to a handful of buildings, one which serve as rental and storage center for kayaks and canoes.  And the improvements to Bowdoin and Wilcox parks, worth $962,000, include building renovations and new playgrounds.

Higgins said he expects vote for the bond to take place next month.

Diane Nash, D-Hyde Park, said a balance has to be struck between the quality of life needs for county residents and ability to afford them.

“People are not going to be able to travel. They will be looking at their local parks. But we have to look at the fiscal impact,” she said. “We have to come to a happy medium where we can do the improvements without burdening the taxpayers.”