(rshsdepot) Beacon, NY

[Bernie Wagenblast <brwagenblast_@_comcast.net>]

$11M Beacon station plan gets rolling

   By Judy Rife
   Times Herald-Record
   jrife_@_th-record.com

   New York City - Metro-North Railroad could begin work as early as this
year on an $11 million project to expand parking and improve access at the
Beacon train station.
   The project, talked about in bits and pieces for the past two years, is
now ready to move forward. The railroad has acquired $1.75 million worth of
adjacent property and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, its parent
agency, has approved the $9.25 million estimate for construction.
   Contracts will be advertised for bid in the coming months and work will
be completed in 2004.
   In reporting yesterday to the MTA's Metro-North committee, the railroad's
staff said the project will only bring the station to a state of good repair
and meet short-term demand for additional parking in a growing market.
   A long-range plan to integrate the station into the ongoing
revitalization of the community and the waterfront is still being developed
with the City of Beacon, Dutchess County and several state agencies. The
goal is to link the station with the new DIA/Beacon Museum that is scheduled
to open next year and plans that Scenic Hudson and private developers are
advancing separately for residential and commercial construction nearby.
   "Whatever we do at Beacon will be as nice at what we did at
Poughkeepsie,'' said Howard Permut, Metro-North's vice president for
planning, about the long-range strategy. "Beacon is a high profile, gateway
station and everybody wants a very good-looking facility, not just a parking
lot on the river."
   The railroad opened its first-ever parking garage earlier this year in
Poughkeepsie to glowing reviews. It is a stunning piece of period
architecture that complements the landmark New York Central station. It cost
$18 million.
   Beacon and Dutchess County were quick to request a similar investment,
pointing out that a parking garage could be tucked into the steep hillside
at the station without obscuring views of the Hudson. A second community
meeting on these plans will be held next month.
   In the interim, Metro-North will create 450 parking spaces, to bring
Beacon's total to 1,380, and resurface the rest of the sprawling lot.
   Approximately 1,700 people, many of them from eastern Orange and southern
Ulster counties, use the station every day. They represent roughly 7 percent
of the Hudson line's total ridership to Grand Central Terminal. More than
200 people are on the waiting list for a parking permit.
   The railroad will also build a new entrance to the station from Beekman
Street and add a dedicated left-turn lane on Beekman to Route 9D north and
the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge and Interstate 84 to ease the departure of
commuters in the evening.
   The bus stop and the bus waiting area - many commuters reach the station
via shuttles from Newburgh and Fishkill - will be improved. New sidewalks
will be built to get people around the parking lot more safely. And the
small parking area next to the river will be rehabilitated with an eye
toward the proposed revival of ferry service.
   The temporary trailers that Metro-North and MTA police have used as
offices for years will be removed. The offices will be moved to a
three-story building on an adjacent parcel.



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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

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