(Credit: Pedro Wolfe, 2022)
Crews began cutting down and removing trees along High Rock Avenue in Saratoga Springs on Monday April 18. They are working on the new "Connector Trail," part of the city's network of cycling and pedestrian trails. The trail will run from Lake Avenue east along High Rock Avenue to Excelsior Avenue and then to the bridge over the Northway at Exit 15. The High Rock Park section, the location shown in the picture, should be completed by Memorial Day, officials said.
Saratoga Springs held a groundbreaking ceremony for the Downtown Connector bike and pedestrian trail Friday April 15. The trail will connect downtown Saratoga Springs to the Greenbelt Trail near Northway Exit 15. The connector trail extends 1.66 miles, leading from Lake Avenue to the trail that continues into Wilton near Northway Exit 15.
The event was marked by a speech by Saratoga Springs Mayor Ron Kim, while a small crowd of people listened. Tom Roohan of Roohan Realty and Rayna Caldwell of the Climate Smart Task Force were in attendance.
“This is a critical connection between our downtown to Exit 15. It’s really one of our steps to make this city more friendly to the environment, and also just a place where people can walk and bike,” Kim said.
The Saratoga Greenbelt Trail is a 24-mile loop connecting the city to other bike paths in the area.
Ed Lindner, spokesperson for the Saratoga Springs Safe Cycling Coalition, said that the Saratoga Greenbelt Trail will eventually connect into the Empire State Trail, a 750-mile path which connects Manhattan, Buffalo, and Rouses Point near the Canadian border.
It was recently named by Outside Magazine as the best rails-to-trails bike system in the United States.
“It’s a tremendous tourism and economic opportunity. If riders can get on the Empire Bike Trail in New York City, right here to Saratoga Springs, we could become a bicyclist destination,” he said.
Lindner says that the path will make biking in the area safer and more accessible and creates an economic benefit as it connects cyclists with businesses in the the surrounding area.
The new path will be 10 feet wide and built parallel to the road, but not in the roadway.
“Cyclists are like motorists. We choose where to ride that gets us safely where we want to go. There are a lot of people who really won’t ride unless they feel comfortable,” Lindner said.
Officials said that construction of the High Rock Park portion of the connector will be finished by Memorial Day. Construction of the full connector should finish by November.
The Saratoga Farmers Market, which is held in High Rock Park during the summer, sits directly next to the bike path.
While construction is underway on the path, the Saratoga Farmers Market will relocate to the Wilton Mall, its normal winter location, and to the open space near the Saratoga Springs City Center parking garage near the intersection of High Rock and Lake avenues.