PORT JERVIS—City of Port Jervis residents came to City Hall Sept. 12 to talk to planners about a redesign of some downtown streets that the city is putting a state grant towards.
The grant, which is a $250,000 a year for 5 years split between Newburgh and Port Jervis, is called the Healthy Orange Schools and Communities grant, and was awarded to Orange County by the New York State Department of Health to reduce chronic disease.
For the initial phase, the city will be focusing on Pike St., Front St. and Jersey Ave., and this year’s grant money will go towards the planning for those streets.
The city is following the state’s Complete Streets initiative, which emphasizes street that take into account multiple modes of transport. “This includes pedestrians, bicyclists, public transportation riders, and motorists; it includes children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities,” the state’s Department of Transportation (DOT) website says.
Planners from ALTA Planning + Design based in Troy, New York met with about two dozen residents in two information sessions that day, and a handful of people in an evening workshop to solicit input on the Complete Streets design.
From those sessions, the suggestions they got were for more greenery in the city, wider sidewalks, bike lanes and racks, more trash bins, and sidewalks that are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
During the workshop, Fourth Ward Councilman Stanley Siegel broached the idea of a promenade in the downtown, an idea ALTA planner Daniel Berheide said was raised in earlier sessions as well.
Siegel also talked about a long-time dream to see the old O&W Railroad track that goes from Port Jervis to Kingston at least partially turned into a rail trail that would connect to the downtown.
“And then people could walk all the way from Sparrowbush to the D&H [Canal],” he said.
Sean Donnelly, a co-owner of 46-48 Front St., said that as a soon-to-be alcohol vendor, he would like to see a design that slowed traffic on Front St.
His partner, David Krantz, suggested creating a more welcoming entrance to the city for people coming off the train.
