New Castle Eyes Extending Sidewalks to Gedney Park, Route 120
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New Castle officials are pursuing the addition of sidewalks in two locations in town that would be economically feasible and achievable from an engineering standpoint with help from Westchester County.
As part of Westchester’s Complete Streets study, the town has recommended linking Route 133 in Millwood near the North County Trailway to Gedney Park. County representatives are expected to make a presentation next month to the Town Board to explain more about the potential project.
The town is also hoping to coordinate extending the existing sidewalk on Route 120 with the county’s addition of a new sewer trunk line along the state route and replacement of a water main on that same stretch. The extended sidewalk would go up to the southern entrance of Wagon Road Camp.
“We’re thrilled to be able to get people out of their cars and walking to the train station, walking to the downtown,” Town Administrator Jill Shapiro said of the proposal. “It’s just fabulous.”
Both areas are among a list of eight locations in town that had been identified as under consideration for sidewalks. Other areas included two spots on Route 117 between Route 120 and Roaring Brook Road, Douglas Road, Station Place Road and Saw Mill River Road in Millwood and Roaring Brook Road, both on the east and west sides of the Saw Mill Parkway.
Officials are trying to make New Castle a more walkable community. Director of Planning Sabrina Charney Hull said that sidewalks are among the most common upgrades requested from residents in areas outside of the hamlet centers.
“I can tell you from firsthand experience, when we were going through an update in the Comprehensive Plan, sidewalks in significantly residential neighborhoods was probably the number one ask and we can’t put sidewalks everywhere,” Hull said. “It’s just not economically feasible.”
For example, to build about 6,200 feet of sidewalk on Douglas Road was estimated to cost between $4.8 million and $5.3 million because about 25 utility poles would have to be relocated, said Town Engineer Robert Cioli.
Also, not every area can accommodate the 14 to 16 feet needed to build a sidewalk. About two feet is needed for the road shoulder, then about five feet each for the sidewalk and snow shelf and another few feet behind the sidewalk, he said.
Connecting Gedney Park with Route 133 in Millwood appears to be one of the more doable projects, Shapiro said.
“The sidewalks are already there and it’s just a wonderful segue,” she said.
Cioli mentioned that with an ample amount of town land available at Gedney Park, almost half of the length of the sidewalk could snake through a portion of the park rather than continue on Route 133, which would be costlier. No estimate for either project was provided last week.
“There’s so much property on the south side of Gedney Park, we would keep it almost entirely on the town property, which would benefit and save a lot of cost on the project because of that as well,” Cioli said. “That helps us quite a bit.”
Shapiro said the town will be asking the project engineer on the Route 120 sewer and water main work for a change order to include a survey and design for the sidewalks.
Eventually, the town would like to further extend the sidewalk up to Roaring Brook Elementary School and then onto Route 133 to Millwood.
“It is a very ambitious project, but at the end of the day all of our sidewalk projects, they’re in bits and pieces,” Shapiro said. “That’s the only way we can do it. We can’t afford to do it all (at once).”
One of the challenges of a Route 120 sidewalk extension is the state now requires the taking of a piece of each property owner’s land instead of an easement, she said. There would have to be agreements from six property owners in this case.
In another pedestrian-related development, town officials have been in discussions with Metro-North representatives to run a 20-foot-wide easement on the railroad’s property for about 2,400 feet in hopes of pursuing the Chapp Line, a roughly mile-long path connecting downtown Chappaqua with Roaring Brook Road, Shapiro said.
A Request for Proposal is expected to be sent out by the town for a survey and appraisal as part of the process to secure an easement.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/
