Hoppy, Walkway Exec. Dir. Elizabeth Waldstein-Hart and Serino show off the new vehicle
HIGHLAND – The Walkway Over the Hudson will acquire an electric transport vehicle as well as upgrades to solidify the east entrance on the Dutchess County side.
The $50,000 in funding comes from the state’s Municipal Facilities Corporation, which allows state officials to dole it out for infrastructure in their districts.In this instance, State Senator Susan Serino (R, Hyde Park) secured the funds for the Walkway projects.
Those tasked with operation of the Walkway said the electric vehicle, which will be used for transport during maintenance on either side of the walkway, was sorely needed.
With an annual visitation of approximately 500,000 and being the host to a number of large scale events, including Saturday’s Alzheimer’s Walk which had an estimated 1,000 participants, Walkway Manager Eric Hoppy said the new transport vehicle will make what use to be cumbersome jobs much less so.
“As you witnessed today, we have events that we do on the Walkway and those events bring a lot of people, and it becomes a logistical problem of getting across the bridge to maintain the Walkway,” said Hoppy. “This is just going to help with that maintenance and it’s going to make it so much easier; and now, the addition of the longer bed, and the maintenance vehicle that we’re specking, will enable us to get our tools across that we’re going to need to perform that maintenance.”
Serino also said that the no emission, Gem electric vehicle they have been able to purchase via the grant, reinforces the incentive of why people use the walkway in the first place – healthy recreational activity. “If you have something that is giving off emissions, breathing that in, that’s a total conflict of why you’re out here on the bridge; so, it is really important and it was a need that they had and that we were able provide,” she said.
The rest of the grant money will be used to make the east entrance stairway more accessible, have a wider breadth for park goers and also cosmetic improvements.
The walkway will soon be undergoing construction for heated buildings for their ambassadors and for permanent bathrooms paid for by the grant.
