Walkway Over the Hudson

The Walkway Over the Hudson is an adaptive reuse of a disused railroad trestle linking Poughkeepsie and Highland. It was originally built in 1888 as a rail link across the Hudson River - the only one between New York City and Albany, which more than 100 miles upstream. After a fire in 1974, the trestle was closed to rail traffic. It sat as a hulking ruin linking both sides of the river just upstream from the FDR Mid Hudson Bridge. It was decided to turn the railroad crossing into a tourist destination and park, along the lines of the High Line in Manhattan.

Walkway Over the Hudson State Historic Park is a linear walkway spanning the Hudson River. At 212 feet tall and 1.28 miles long, it is the longest, elevated pedestrian bridge in the world. 400,000 visitors come to the bridge annually since it opened in 2009.

These shots don't even begin to capture the grandeur of the surrounding landscape, which was ablaze in fall color and that have been captured successfully by the Hudson River school of artists whose work is world-renowned.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NJ Transit and Amtrak Again Suffer Power Problems At Hudson River Tunnels

This is an all too common occurrence. NJ Transit trains are stuck in the Hudson River tunnels and require diesel trains to rescue the trains because of power problems.

Not only does this affect all traffic along the Northeast Corridor, but it affects the commutes of people who rely on NJ Transit on a daily basis. Northeast Corridor and North Jersey Coast Line trains are subject to 45-60 minute delays due to single tracking into New York due to power problems. MidTOWN DIRECT trains are being diverted to Hoboken. Crossing honoring with PATH at Hoboken and Newark. So this affects users of PATH and NJ Transit commuters into Hoboken that will experience larger than normal crowds and for which NJ Transit habitually seems unprepared to deal with despite having had such traffic prior to Midtown Direct service (the institutional knowledge of how to deal with the increased traffic seems to have disappeared/been lost).

Amtrak needs to update its power systems along the entirety of the NEC, and doing so would improve the reliability for all uses.

The power systems are on the to-do list for Amtrak, and those improvements can't come soon enough for commuters who can't count on a reliable commute.

New Hudson River tunnels wouldn't solve the problem if the power systems aren't addressed - and that takes money and political effort by the New York and New Jersey delegations to make sure that the money gets to where it is needed.

FAA To Split Hudson River Airspace

After the disastrous accident that killed the occupants of a sightseeing helicopter and a small private airplane, the FAA has issued new rules splitting the airspace.

One zone will be for local planes and helicopters, such as those carrying commuters and sightseers. Another will be for those passing through the New York City area on longer flights to other destinations.

FAA head Randy Babbitt says the air traffic controller and supervisor who were on duty at the airport where the plane flight originated have been fired.

The changes follow recommendations in an FAA task force report compiled after the collision. They are to take effect Thursday.

Specifically, the FAA calls for the following:

The rule also now requires pilots to follow safety procedures that were previously recommended, but were not mandatory. In a new Special Flight Rules Area over the Hudson and East Rivers, pilots must:

* Maintain a speed of 140 knots or less.
* Turn on anti-collision and aircraft position/navigation lights, if equipped.
* Self-announce their position on specific radio frequencies.
* Carry current charts for the airspace and be familiar with them.

In an exclusion zone below 1,300 feet over the Hudson River, pilots must announce their aircraft type, position, direction and altitude at charted mandatory reporting points and must stay along the New Jersey shoreline when southbound and along the Manhattan shoreline when northbound.

Pilots transiting the Hudson River must fly at an altitude between 1,000 feet and 1,300 feet. Local flights will operate in the lower airspace below 1,000 feet.

The rule also will incorporate provisions of an October 2006 Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) that restricted fixed-wing aircraft in the exclusion zone over the East River to seaplanes landing or taking off on the river or those specifically approved by FAA air traffic control.

Graphical interpretation of the new rule is here and the situation as it was in place when the accident occurred is here.