Hudson Valley bike trail getting $3.5 million grant

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – An expansion of a Hudson Valley bicycle trail is in the works.

The Federal Highway Administration and New York State Department of Transportation have awarded Dutchess County $3.5 million to begin work on extending the Harlem Valley Rail Trail.

The rail trail is a multi-use pedestrian and bicycle path aimed at providing alternative transportation choices and recreational opportunities. It runs along a former railroad corridor that winds through eastern New York’s Harlem Valley, beginning at the Wassaic Train Station on Metro-North Railroad’s Harlem Valley Line and extending north into Columbia County.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (SHOO’-mur) says the expansion will help spur economic development by bringing in tourism revenue.

The first segment of the Harlem Valley Rail Trail opened in 1996.