WELCOME to the Long Island Greenways and Healthy Trails site!
LI Greenways and Healthy Trails was founded in 2007 with the
goal of creating a vast network of interconnected trail systems on LI so there would be safe choices for everyone to reach
just about all destinations on LI on foot or on bicycle. The effort includes getting the various off road paved paths built
and opened to the public, as well as getting more on road improvements such as bike lanes and other enhancements to reach
these trails and to support constructing them where off road trails are not possible or feasible. We also will support the creation
of more mountain bicycling trails and hiking trails where feasible.
We need your help with this vital rail trail project that will build a 12 mile walking, running, bicycling and roller blading path which is something
I have been involved with for more than a decade and I would like to ask all of my friends and anyone who likes to walk, run or cycle to please send in a note of
support for this project to at least one of the people below... the web based one for County Legislator Sarah Anker will
only take a couple of minutes. Time is running out for the Port Jefferson to Wading River Rails to Trails path. The county
of Suffolk is compiling forms sent in and will make a determination whether to proceed with the already funded project,
or walk away from it (and the $8 million in federal funds) in September 2012. Please take the time to write and send a
letter of support for this project to:
William Hillman
Suffolk County Department of Public Works Chief Engineer
335 Yaphank Ave Yaphank, NY 11980-9744
They will not look at e-mails you so must mail it in as snail-mail so it is well
worth the stamp! PLEASE also visit the website of the legislator for the area, Sarah Anker, who has stated she is not
sure if she supports the project and will surely make her decision based on this input HERE!
http://www.sarahanker.com/rails-to-trails.phpTime will run out and the money will most likely be headed back to
Washington DC if we fail to get this message to the people who need to hear it ASAP! Please take the time to do this today... Thank you! And if you know of people who live in her district and would support this trail, pass this on and lobby them to come out in favor of the trail. Rumor is that we are slightly behind with people opposed winning so far. WE can make this happen if we try!
Please note that the e-mail form for Sarah Anker may have an error. Make sure you get a "form submitted" response.
If you don't get a response or get an error, just change the first field in the form to your actual e-mail address,
and put your real name in the "comments" section of the form. THANKS AGAIN ONLY YOU CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN!
Our main goals include getting non-motorized access to all of our
wonderful barrier beaches such as Robert Moses, this incudes the Ocean Parkway trail and the trail NYDOT promised to build when they
refurbish the 3 lane Causeway bridge in the near future. An extended Wantagh Parkway trail, an extended Bethpage Bikeway, and finally the
LI Motor Parkway trail which would run right down the center of Nassau and western Suffolk county. Also on the list are the Port Jefferson to Wading
River trail and the nearby Setauket trail, another trail that leads from Belmont Lake to Argyle lake in Babylon, and of course, the
Greenleaf trail in Holbrook and Sayville. We just found out that Nassau already planned a new trail around the Hub area and
Eisenhower park, which is great because it included Salisbury Park Drive (about mile or so of the LIMPT) and Riverhead has
also planned a 9 mile trail around the Enterprise park at Calverton. All great news, but other than the 1.5 miles of the Setauket Trail
already built, NONE of the others have had a contract signed yet and most are on indefinite hiatus. So we will have a lot of work to do
to get them all funded and "shovel ready"
Projects we are hoping to make progress on this year include the already funded Port Jefferson to Wading River former LIRR line (rails to trails)
but there is a long story behind this effort. The project was first conceived in the 1990's and has had $2 million in funds that almost expired
after years of limited progress. Finally, in 2009, the liability issue was settled, and another $8 million was dedicated to this wonderful trail
project. But state law states that the entity building the trail must have some kind of legal interest in the land, either a long term lease or
easement, and LIPA is unwilling to grant this. So the project has once again come to a halt as this issue is worked out.
The Long Island Motor Parkway trail also is making progress but has far less funds dedicated. We have about $450,000 so far and about $190,000 has been
used to hire a consulting engineering firm to develop a master plan as well as a pilot project which might give us a half mile of trail. The good news is that
at least 2 parts of this trail are already parts of other trail projects... the old road in Bethpage State Park is going to be refurbished as part of the Bethpage
Bikeway extension, and the section of Motor Parkway currently known as Salisbury Park Drive will also get a bike path on the shoulder along the outer edge of Eisenhower
Park. Issues include the usual ones, such as LIPA agreeing to it, MTA agreeing on the old Central RR property, which LIPA uses too, and various school districts
(safe bike routes to school comes to mind!
The Wantagh Parkway proposal would be to extend and rebuild the old trail that leads up to the northern state parkway, it would be modernized and extended to the LIE I-495
service roads. There has been some controversy near some schools and possible wetlands in some areas.
The Bethpage Bikeway extension should also be ready to go within 2 years. There is some debate whether more public hearings are needed since the planning began so long ago. It will
allow riders and walkers to ride all the way from Massapequa Preserve up to the Cold Spring Harbor LIRR station, utilizing about a one mile segment of the original LI Motor Parkway
that still exists inside the state park. We have been assured the original historic banked curve, damaged by LIPA 3 years ago, will be restored as part of this project.
Ocean Parkway... it is technically ready to go but it seems to get stuck in the gate every year. There was some opposition from people who live by the beach of course, but we do expect
that it will lessen ovet time and people realize this will improve their lives too, not hurt them. Many locals actually run along the parkway illegally now and most of them would welcome the trail.
site e-mail denisbyrne@yahoo.com
LI Environment site 
