At an informational session held Sept. 10 by the Lake George Town Board, Bill Sprengnether of Alta Planning & Design describes the various routes for extending the Warren County Bikeway from its present terminus in Lake George to Warrensburg.
Photo by Thom Randall
LAKE GEORGE | A preferred route for extending the Warren County Bikeway to Warrensburg has been chosen after a months-long feasibility study was conducted recently by Alta Planning & Design.
Bill Sprengnether, a design associate with Alta, nationally renowned for designing bicycle paths, detailed the route options Sept. 10 in a PowerPoint presentation to the Lake George Town Board.
The study’s preliminary conclusions identified a route through the back streets of Lake George Village for bicycles to access Route 9 so they can continue north out of the village to Warrensburg, where challenges exist for bicycle travel.
The Warren County Bikeway, a pedestrian and biking trail on a rail bed that dates back to 1882, stretches from Glens Falls to Lake George, ending on Beach Road beside Battlefield Park.
The study employed the criteria of safety, cost of development, grade of route, street widths, parking disruption and other considerations.
The preferred route through the village is to extend the Bikeway southwest up West Brook Road, jog northwest on Mohican, Dieskau, McGillis, Helen, Montcalm and Cooper streets onto the National Grid easement — a former trolley route to Warrensburg between the Northway — past the Lake George municipal buildings.
From there, bicyclers would go through a tunnel to be constructed underneath the I-87/Route 9 ramp, travel northeast beside the Northway spur, then pedal through an I-87 underpass to the northeast side of Route 9 where a bi-directional bike path would be created alongside the state route.
Halfway between Route 9’s two intersections with Hubbell Lane and Flat Rock Road, the bikeway would likely change to single-direction bike lanes on each side of the highway northwest to Warrensburg, where it would terminate at the town recreation field off Library Ave..
To take the bikeway from Route 9 into — and through — the Warrensburg hamlet was determined to be problematical chiefly due to narrow bridges, busy intersections, and conflicts with streetside vehicle parking downtown.
Two primary routes into the Warrensburg hamlet were evaluated — via Route 9, the hamlet’s main street, and via Baker’s Crossing and River Street.
Bakers Crossing was considered a problem because of a steep grade and a blind curve as it intersects with Route 9 — and River Street presents challenges because it is narrow and has stone walls and utility poles that present obstructions.
This route would take the bike path over Richards Street onto Elm Street and Electric Ave, then on a path alongside the northern bank of the Schroon River behind the Warrensburg fire station and elementary school to the town recreation field.
But to extend the Bikeway north on Route 9 involves the busy Diamond Point Road intersection, which is designed for heavy vehicular traffic. Also, northward on Route 9 through the hamlet, dozens of cars routinely park beside the street.
To develop a bicycle-friendly path along Main Street would require an extensive engineering study and probably a complete reconstruction of curbs, drainage and realignment of the street’s centerline, the study says. Also, the Route 9 bridge over the Schroon River at the Lake George-Warrensburg town line is narrow, and would allow directional bike paths of a maximum width of four feet — confining and precarious for a bridge that carries tens of thousands of vehicles daily.
The River Street route requires replacing a bridge over the Schroon River, some utility pole relocation and property acquisition along River Street, and probably a full rebuild of the roadway the study says.
Addressing the Bakers Crossing route, town board member Marisa Muratori suggested diverting the Bikeway up Old State Road to an upper stretch of Bakers Crossing, but Sprengnether said that it would take bicyclists near a shooting range where law officers routinely fire their weapons — which would pose a hazard.
A member of the Warren County Safe and Quality Biking Organization suggested connecting the Bikeway extension to the idle Warren County railroad corridor, which is proposed for a rail-trail from Corinth to North Creek.
Lake George Director of Planning Dan Barusch said that such a connection to a major recreational amenity would boost the likelihood of grant funding.
Barusch concluded the session, stating that Alta’s study provided a basis for seeking grants to fund engineering and construction of the Bikeway extension, one stretch at a time, if not in its entirety.
Alta’s study was prepared with input from the Adirondack-Glens Falls Transportation Council, the state Department of Transportation, Warren County Public Works officials, local highway superintendents, and Creighton-Manning Engineering, Inc.
