Originally Posted by
kaos joe
Nice report, Steve.
The fact that this path was opened has been a surprise to me (as it was when they allowed us hooligans to actually ride on the boardwalk). Sometimes, progress actually is possible even in NY.
OTOH, if you want to be a curmudgeon, look at the google satellite view of the area. The current pic was taken before the new path was opened. In it's entirety, it already existed as an unpaved roadway, probably used for service vehicles only. No bridges, ramps, culverts, etc needed to be built. So the resource was already pretty much there, and went unused for decades for the lack of a bit of asphalt, or even gravel or chipseal.
That KaosJoe is such a PIA, ain't he?
The asphalt sections along the roadway is all new. Google Earth only shows sand on these 2 sections, so I assume that’s where the budget went. All the rest is just existing parking lot that’s been divided and re-purposed, or as you stated. The section that goes thru the TR Nature Center on the “boardwalk” has signage that you need to dismount and walk the bike on the sidewalk, which is what they call the boardwalk thru here. I suspect that’s not going to happen.