The Fjord Trail is Not a Trail
Scenic Hudson and the Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail (HHFT) want to build a major tourist attraction they say will be “the epicenter of tourism in the Hudson Valley” and have “national prominence.”
Stretching 7.5 miles, from the Metro-North train station in Cold Spring to Long Dock Park in Beacon, the Fjord Trail would lead to roughly a decade of heavy construction, degrade the environment, despoil the landscape, worsen traffic, bring an unmanageable number of tourists, and strain resources in the historic village of Cold Spring.
Table of Contents
1. Environmental damage caused by heavy construction
HHFT is planning for construction of the Fjord Trail to proceed in four stages that would last for roughly a decade.
At Breakneck Ridge, the first stage (HHFT refers to this as the “Breakneck Bridge and Connector”), four barges (some as long as a 747 airplane) would be docked and piled into the riverbed for two or more years. Vegetation would be ripped from the shoreline and turbidity curtains would be suspended in the river to trap increased sedimentation from erosion (Joint Application Form, 2023). Bedrock would be drilled to lay footers for a bridge spanning the Metro-North tracks. Heavy trucks would require regular access to the construction site from Route 9D, leading to increases in noise pollution, light pollution, and air pollution.
Following Breakneck Ridge, HHFT would proceed with similar construction along the shoreline (HHFT refers to this as the “Shoreline Trail”) from Dockside Park to Little Stony Point, from Little Stony Point to Breakneck Ridge, and from Breakneck Ridge to Long Dock Park.
Construction impacts the environment, there is no way around it. Construction causes both air and water pollution and permanently alters the natural landscape. The removal of trees along the Hudson River shoreline will cause habitat loss and fragment ecosystems, pushing already threatened and endangered species (there are nine protected species—including sturgeon, birds, snakes, and lizards—that call this habitat home) further towards extinction.
In February 2024, crews began cutting mature trees and clearing ground cover in Hudson Highlands State Park on the east side of Route 9D at Breakneck Ridge. HHFT has publicly stressed that the purpose of the project is to move utility poles, but the parkland is also being cleared to build new parallel parking areas, parking lots, maintenance buildings, and bathrooms for Phase 1 of the proposed Fjord Trail.
2. Scarring the shoreline with concrete and infill
Approximately 1.5 miles of the boardwalk and pathway that HHFT is proposing would run immediately parallel to Metro-North tracks and would be located mostly on MTA property and/or directly in the Hudson River. The southern portion of the shoreline boardwalk would run parallel to the train tracks from Dockside Park to Little Stony Point, and another section would run from Little Stony Point to Breakneck Ridge, which would culminate at the base of Breakneck Ridge with a large concrete platform infilled into the river.
MTA requires the shoreline boardwalk to be at least 25 feet from the tracks and have an eight-foot-tall security fence separating the trail from the tracks. These siting requirements would force the structure to be built in the water. HHFT has indicated that the shoreline trail would be constructed with a combination of pilings driven into the shoreline and riverbed to build an elevated structure and filled directly into the river to build a berm (see Arup, “Shoreline Trail Constructability”). That’s a major problem for HHFT because regulatory agencies don't want structures for non-water-dependent uses in or over navigable waters.
The shoreline boardwalk that HHFT is planning to build on the stretch of land from Dockside to Little Stony Point, shown above, would require construction of an elevated boardwalk with pilings driven into the shoreline. Construction of this section alone is expected to last six years. The boardwalk itself would be elevated five feet above the Metro-North tracks and have an eight-foot-tall security fence on the side facing the tracks. By necessity of the elevated structure, natural vegetation and shaded areas would be limited. Source: HHFT Public Info Session at Dutchess Manor, March 11, 2024.
3. Over-tourism isn’t pleasant for tourists, either
Cold Spring’s residential sidewalks are unequipped to accommodate the sheer volume of crowds that HHFT is envisioning and, indeed, hoping to attract. In 2021, HHFT arrived at this conclusion themselves when they ruled against routing the Fjord Trail along sidewalks on Main Street and Fair Street in the upper village. On both streets, they wrote, trees would need to be cut and sidewalks would need to be expanded to accommodate crowds, which would require “necessary easements” and “acquisitions of private property” (Alternative Alignments Analysis, 2022; 17).
Under HHFT’s current plan, crowding on Market Street, Main Street, and West Street in the lower village will likely be much worse than if HHFT had routed the Fjord Trail down Fair Street. HHFT envisions that the boardwalk from Dockside to Little Stony Point will “likely be a destination unto itself given the potential for water access, views, and direct connectivity to popular local attractions” (Alternative Alignments Analysis, 2022; 18). Think current crowding—but worse.
This drawing from HHFT shows the tree removal and “private property impacts” that HHFT says would have been necessary to expand sidewalks to accommodate crowding from routing the Fjord Trail along Fair Street. HHFT’s current plans call for routing the Fjord Trail along sidewalks in the lower village of Cold Spring that are just as narrow as the sidewalk on Fair Street. Source: Alternative Alignments Analysis, 2022; 65.
4. The Fjord Trail will not provide the open space you seek
HHFT envisions that the 1.5-mile shoreline boardwalk—which would be between ten and fourteen feet wide and have an eight-foot-tall barrier fence on the side next to Metro-North train tracks—would be open to people walking, hiking, running, rollerblading, walking dogs, biking, using wheelchairs, pushing scooters, fishing, landing kayaks, and wading into the river. Imagine Walkway Over the Hudson, but almost 60 percent narrower. Imagine the causeway on the Brooklyn Bridge, but with people casting fishing lines next to your head. Imagine the caged bike lane on the George Washington Bridge, but with people toweling off in the fast lane. HHFT often boasts that the shoreline trail will be universally accessible, but this is an over-promise. The trail use that HHFT is currently advertising will be dangerous for all users alike.
The boardwalk on the Fjord Trail would be almost 60 percent narrower than Walkway Over the Hudson, shown above. Image credit: Scenic Hudson.
5. Climate change and flooding
Scenic Hudson, the parent organization of HHFT, notes that the Hudson River’s water levels are expected to rise six or more feet by the end of this century due to climate change, and possibly an additional six feet during the next century. Six feet of sea level rise would permanently flood large areas of the Fjord Trail, including:
The lower village of Cold Spring
Dockside Park
The shoreline sections of Metro-North tracks from Dockside Park to Breakneck Ridge
The north side of Little Stony Point
The approach to Undercliff at Breakneck Ridge
The Breakneck Ridge train station and surrounding area
Areas of light blue shading in the map above show the extent of inundation that would result from an expected six feet of sea level rise by the end of this century. Extensive areas of the proposed Fjord Trail fall within these high risk areas. Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Consequentially, Scenic Hudson’s sea level rise modeling takes into consideration only sea level rise, not extreme weather events. Add extreme weather to the equation and the extent of expected flooding becomes even more severe, as this model from the Columbia Climate School demonstrates.
Indeed, even now, at the relative onset of sea level rise, the effects of flooding from extreme weather events are being acutely felt in the Hudson Valley. Recent repeated flooding in the lower village of Cold Spring plainly demonstrates that flooding is a present threat, not a future threat. In the years and decades ahead, these threats will become increasingly pronounced as the effects of sea level rise and extreme weather compound one another. As Cold Spring mayor Kathleen Foley recently stated, “We are actively living with climate collapse. We have to talk about it openly, particularly as New York State is considering connecting our fragile waterfront to the Fjord Trail. . . . [We need to have] honest and serious conversations about our infrastructure needs at the waterfront and whether trail development makes sense in that part of the village.”
The above video shows flooding on West Street in the lower village of Cold Spring on January 13, 2024. The rain storm, which coincided with melting snowpack and high tide, flooded numerous low-lying areas along the river, leading to property damage in Cold Spring, the temporary suspension of Metro-North service between Garrison and Beacon, the temporary closure of Route 9D north of Philipstown, and damage to dozens of cars at the Beacon train station.
6. More parking spaces equal even more cars
HHFT expects that the Fjord Trail will attract hundreds of thousands of visitors annually by car. To accommodate this massive influx of drivers, HHFT plans to build a network of parking lots along Route 9D, stretching from Boscobel House and Gardens, south of Cold Spring, to Dutchess Manor, north of Breakneck Ridge.
Source: HHFT Sunday Afternoon Chat at Hubbard Lodge, October 29, 2023; and email correspondence with HHFT Executive Director Amy Kacala, March 6, 2024.
7. Traffic will bottleneck on Route 9D
Route 9D is the only through road with access to the Fjord Trail, and it is also the primary access point for the parking lots that HHFT is planning to build. According to HHFT, 77.7 percent of surveyed visitors arriving at Breakneck Ridge arrive from the south, specifically the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area. HHFT is planning to build more parking to accommodate more cars. But our rural roads are unequipped to accommodate the sheer volume of traffic that the Fjord Trail will bring to the region. The additional parking lots that HHFT wants to build along Route 9D will create bottlenecks, leading to backups.
Route 9D, shown in red above, is the only through road with access to the Fjord Trail.
Traffic is already an issue on Route 9D during peak tourist seasons, frequently backing up from the stoplight in Cold Spring to the Butterfield Condominiums, where it spills over into residential side streets. Traffic ruins experiences for visitors, complicates weekend routines for residents, and hampers response times for emergency police, fire, and ambulance services.
During peak visitor seasons, traffic on Route 9D frequently stretches from the traffic light in Cold Spring to Butterfield Condominiums, as shown above in October 2023—a back up of more than half a mile.
8. Traffic will overwhelm the Village of Cold Spring
The fees that HHFT plans to charge for parking will incentivize visitors to seek out alternative free parking on residential streets in Cold Spring and Philipstown and at the Metro-North parking lot in Cold Spring, which HHFT has indicated would function as the southern beginning and ending point for the Fjord Trail.
Cold Spring’s one-way-in, one-way-out streets are unequipped to accommodate the massive influx of cars that the Fjord Trail is expected to bring to the region. HHFT’s parking plan will to lead to more cars, traffic, noise pollution, and air pollution in Cold Spring, as drivers circle Village streets and the Metro-North parking lot in search of coveted free parking spots.
The Metro-North parking lot in Cold Spring routinely fills to capacity on weekends. Demand for free weekend parking on Village streets and at the Metro-North train station will cause more traffic, noise pollution, and emissions in Cold Spring.
9. Reckless financial planning and shoreline commercialization
HHFT currently has a reserve fund of approximately $3 million and, rather than raise additional money for an endowment, has indicated that they intend to fund operations through parking and shuttle bus fees. Additionally, HHFT’s contract with New York State allows it to sell advertising, concession stands, and corporate sponsorships anywhere on the Fjord Trail, which they say “might be important sources of funding for both development and operations” (Agreement between NYS OPRHP and HHFT, 2021; 12).
Although HHFT has so far refused to publish an expected annual operating budget for the Fjord Trail, the final budget is bound to be massive. Hudson River Park in New York City—a similarly sized park that runs adjacent to the Hudson River—offers a useful comparison. Last year, Hudson River Park had an annual operating budget of $23,950,809. Of this total, Hudson River Park spent $7,114,781 on park maintenance; $3,348,354 on public safety and security; $1,540,646 on sanitation; $1,931,787 on utilities; and a staggering $6,688,904 on insurance (Approved Budget vs Audited Actuals, FY 2022-23; 2).
Absent a functional endowment, HHFT will be forced to maximize visitation and monetize visitor experiences, turning Philipstown into a staging ground for the Fjord Trail’s operations.
10. Higher taxes
Local taxpayers, directly or indirectly, will foot the bill for additional EMS, police, traffic control, trash collection, water, wear and tear to the village, and other unreimbursed costs. That’s because HHFT will only be responsible for maintenance and operational costs within the physical boundaries of the Fjord Trail, even as they draw more tourists to Cold Spring with a boardwalk attraction. Unfortunately, sales tax revenue won’t help either. That money is sent to Putnam County.
Cold Spring already struggles to manage the enormous amount of trash that is generated during the busy seasons, and HHFT plans to foot Cold Spring with the bill for the additional trash collection that will be required in the Village if the Fjord Trail is built.
The boardwalk sections of the Fjord Trail and the railroad overpass at Breakneck Ridge will have their own maintenance costs, which HHFT will likely hand off to New York State Parks following the end of construction. If this happens, even as HHFT generates revenue from their operation of the Fjord Trail, the underlying costs to maintain the Fjord Trail infrastructure—including the bridge at Breakneck, the pilings in the river, the concrete fill, the railings and fencing, the inevitable damage from flooding, among so many other capital expenses—will be passed on to New York State taxpayers.
11. Another trail is reachable from here
Protect the Highlands has long advocated for building a more modest trail that would be cheaper to build, easier to maintain, more climate resilient, remain in scale with its surroundings, and improve accessibility for residents, visitors, and people of all mobilities alike.
What might this look like? In short, a modest trail would stay on the ground and out of the river. It would improve safety and accessibility. It would respect our natural surroundings—the river, mountains, and wildlife that together make our region so special. It would acknowledge the spatial limitations of our 19th-century towns and the carrying capacities of our rural roads.
In fact, long before Scenic Hudson, HHFT, and their billionaire donor co-opted planning for the Fjord Trail and began trying to morph it into a “world class linear park,” residents of Philipstown had been working together to build a more modest trail. The original Fjord Trail traces its origins to a community-driven 2007 greenway grant feasibility study—a study that found in the contours of our region’s magnificent geography the beginnings of an at-grade trail that would improve recreation, safety, and accessibility. Philipstown needs infrastructure and we deserve better than the concrete monstrosity that Scenic Hudson and HHFT are trying to force upon us.