Epic New 'Tri-State Trail Network' Would Connect NY, NJ, CT And PA

NEW YORK, NY — A plan to create an epic network of nearly 1,650 miles of uninterrupted hiking/biking trails across New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and beyond was proposed last week by the Regional Plan Association, a nonprofit civic-planning org with historic sway in government decisions. (Full map below.)

Under the proposal, more than 80 percent of Tri-State residents — or 18.6 million people — would live within two miles of the network, the group says. It would pass through nearly 280 towns.

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Half the trails included in the plan are already in place, and another quarter or so are in the government approval pipeline, according to the nonprofit that drew it up. The remaining quarter of necessary trailway — around 377 miles' worth — would still have to be OK'd by local leaders for the ambitious vision to take shape.

Given the hundreds of official entities involved, this process could take a decade or more, explained Robert Freudenberg, vice president of energy and environment for the Regional Plan Association.

"Each leg will have its challenges," Freudenberg said. "From changes to urban, established city streets to power-line rights of way in rural areas. There will be things like bridges — better bike lanes and pedestrian lanes on bridges. And as you go out further, the challenges become more about how you change purpose of land."

Parts of the new trail network could be created "overnight," he said. "One decision could make it a reality. Other decisions, where you have to do traffic studies, could take years."

For what it's worth, though, quite a few of the group's previous urban-planning proposals have been adopted to varying extents by government officials — such as building the Second Avenue Subway in Upper Manhattan and turning the New Jersey Highlands into a source of drinking water for millions of residents.

It could also help that so many of the paths within the Tri-State Trail Network already exist, or are at least in the process of being built. And new routes "would take advantage of underutilized rights-of-way such as low-speed or abandoned roadways, rail lines, transmission lines and pipelines" to avoid snags, according to the Regional Plan Association.

Below is a map of the full vision (with current trails in dark green and nonexistent trails in light green). Click to enlarge.

The association is planning to release a more intricate, interactive map of the trail network when they drop their much-anticipated Fourth Regional Plan for the Tri-State region later this year. But until then, here are some close-ups of the main "connector" trails that would need to be built to complete the network:

New York City

New Jersey

Hudson Valley

Connecticut

Long Island

Assuming this thing really happens, where could the new Tri-State Trail Network take you?

The network would stretch out to the tip of Long Island; to Buffalo, New York; to the New York-Canada border; to the Maine-Connecticut border; to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; to the southernmost point along the Jersey Shore; and even down to North Carolina, by linking up with the existing Appalachian Trail, according to the Regional Plan Association. So you could ostensibly hike or bike between any of those places — including through the dense urban core of New York City.

But the network would also be great for day trips.

For example, the Regional Plan Association says, you could travel by bike from NYC's Grand Central Station to the Mohonk Preserve just north of Poughkeepsie by "utilizing the Empire State Trail [pictured below] and some simple roadside connections... with a possible re-route along the existing Wallkill Valley Rail Trail on the return."

Add a short train or ferry ride to the mix, and Connecticut residents could plan a cool day hike from the north end of Long Island (Port Jefferson) to the south end (Islip), the group suggests. And anyone in the region could head down to a new Jersey Shore Trail for "loop trips along the shore and through the towns and boroughs of Ocean and Monmouth Counties."

Intrigued? Read the full proposal here.

Ready to get involved? Although the Tri-State Trail Network vision is still in its infancy, Freudenberg with the Regional Plan Association says it's never too early to start reaching out to your local leaders — your mayor and governor, he suggests — to express your support. Thus planting the concept of a vast, uninterrupted interstate trailway in politicians' minds as more than a pipe dream, and as something their constituents really want to see them get behind.

Images courtesy of the Regional Plan Association