Adirondack Recreational Trail Advocates
Frequently Asked Questions
The Adirondack
Scenic Railroad claimed annual ridership between Lake Placid and
Saranac Lake of 14,000 riders in its peak year
(2010). This number pales beside the potential use of the corridor
as a year-round recreational trail. From 1990, when it began
running between Lake Placid and Saranac Lake, the tourist train 1) provided no noticeable economic benefits and 2) prevented other recreational uses of the line. Yet it continued to
receive taxpayer support based on the false premise that it stimulates
business.
Claim: If we had extended the
train ride from Saranac Lake to Tupper Lake, the train would achieve
its potential. More people would have rides it and the regional economy
would have benefited.
A 2010
study by
Camoin Associates projected a 75% increase in riders by extending
train service an additional 25 miles to Tupper Lake. If a ridership
of 14,000 in its best year has not helped our economy, what could
have been
expected with more riders taking a much longer trip to Tupper Lake?
Claim: There was no
assurance that a recreation trail would be more successful than the
tourist train.
Wrong. A
study by Stone Consulting said restoration of train service from
Utica to Lake Placid would bring only 7,000 additional visitors per
year. A study by the Rails to Trails Conservancy said that a
recreation trail on the corridor will bring 244,000 visitors per
year. This excludes additional winter users - another major
opportunity for attracting more tourists. The Adirondack Rail Trail will be a major
tourist destination in itself, while the tourist train is an
incidental activity, something a visitor might do as a rainy-day
alternative. The type of outdoor-loving recreationists attracted by
the trail, the length of their stay, and their tendency to repeat
the experience will spark the regional economy.
For example, 27 million Americans ride bicycles, and many
families incorporate biking into their vacation plans. In the
Adirondacks, Fish Creek and Rollins Pond campgrounds alone attract
nearly 200,000 campers each year, most of whom bring bicycles. The
campgrounds will connect easily with the railroad bed, offering
campers a short bike ride to Tupper Lake or a longer (but still
easy) ride to Saranac Lake.
Claim: That’s all
speculation—where’s the hard evidence that rail trails are such a
big deal?
The national
Rails to Trails Conservancy, which has promoted the conversion of
30,000 miles of rails to trails, has plenty of evidence that rail
trails attract large numbers of recreationists and stimulate local
economies. For example, the Pine Creek Trail, which runs 63 miles
through the “Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania” between Jersey Shore and
Wellesboro, last year had 138,000 users and generated about $4
million in sales. The 32-mile Elroy-Sparta Trail in Wisconsin draws
some 60,000 users who spend about $2 million a year. The Heritage
Rail Trail, which runs 20 miles between York, Pennsylvania and the
Maryland state line, attracts 350,000 visitors annually who leave
behind $3.6 million. And so on.
What will become of
economically-stressed Tupper Lake without the excursion train?
What will make
Tupper a tourist destination is not an extended tourist train but a
popular bikeway connecting the village to the rest of the Tri-Lakes
area--along with Tupper’s emergence as a hub for snowmobilers on a
greatly improved trail that links Tupper Lake with Old Forge in the
south and with hundreds of miles of other snowmobile trails to the
north.
Claim: A train
enables handicapped people to enjoy the beauty of the Adirondacks.
The Adirondack
Rail Trail will provide those with impaired
mobility a perfect pathway for enjoying the outdoors easily, safely
and independently. The level trail will be well suited for electric
or self-powered wheelchairs, hand-propelled bicycles, etc., and
ideal for families with very young and very old members.
Claim: If the rail
becomes a recreational trail, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) will mess
it up.
Almost all of
the 30,000 miles of rail-trails in this country prohibit the use of
ATVs, as do most trails on state lands of the Adirondacks.
ARTA will press for
similar restrictions on the converted corridor.
How can we make the
Adirondack Rail Trail a reality?
By making sure
that public opinion and common sense will prevail. ARTA is
conducting further studies and analyses of the costs and benefits of
a recreational trail all the way from Lake Placid to Old Forge
(Remsen); making its voice heard through reasoned
debate; and taking its case to our elected representatives at every
level.