Town board approves actions in support grant to fund Junction improvements near station

by Dan McClelland

Melissa McManus, who now serves as both the village and town community development coordinator, briefed the town board Thursday on one of her latest town projects: getting ready for the opening of this end of the Adirondack Rail/Trail and the arrival of regular train service in the next year or so.

Since the spring Melissa has directed what is called “the Rail/Trail Readiness committee,” comprised of local volunteers.

“As you all know a committee of super-dedicated Tupper Lakers has been working on getting our community ready for the coming of the rail/trail and the resumption of regular rail service.”

She said four of those members were at that night’s meeting: Councilman John Gillis, Free Press Publisher Dan McClelland and Kelly and Reese Fleury, who head the Tupper Lake Snowmobile Club and who chair one of the group’s new sub-committees.

“Through the committee’s hard work these past months, we’ve identified a set of goals, a scope of work for the station itself and what we’re talking about tonight- the enhancements around the station.”

In the committee’s discussions- some live, some via Zoom- have been the need for bike racks, repair stations, water dispensing units, picnic tables, various other user amenities- at this the southern terminus of the new pedestrian, biking and snowmobiling recreational corridor between here and Lake Placid.

The eastern most section of the new 30-mile long trail officially opened at Ray Brook in recent weeks.

Many committee discussions, too, have centered on the connections needed where the recreation trail ends east of the station near McCarthy Street to get trail users to local streets and roadways where local businesses are situated.

“We want to convert its economic potential into new spending in our business in the Junction and beyond. We know what needs to be done to improve our streets and sidewalks- we’ve done a lot of thinking about that over the years.”

She said a number of new concepts and ideas are in the works “-and we’re now in the position to go after the money to design these improvements. And happily we had a Plan A in mind all the time and that was to try and secure some federal money, in particular the bipartisan infrastructure law money you’ve all heard about.”

“There’s still some money out there banging around and we’re hoping to get some of that or potentially an earmark. Alternatively our Plan B is the state Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant that is custom-made for this kind of hub project!”

She had forwarded two resolutions in support of the latter to the board for its consideration. Both were adopted that evening in support of the state grant.

The first represented the town board’s support for the application for Junction Hub improvement funds through the $165 million in DOT TAP funds to improve pathways and make safe connections to the new train service and $44 million state investment in the new rail/trail.

Of those grants, 80% would come from the state and 20% from the community.

The second resolution she presented that was also adopted by the board was an agreement with the LaBella Associates firm of Glens Falls to provide preliminary design and engineering services to the town that are necessary to file the application of a forthcoming TAP grant. The firm will submit the town application and the preliminary work it involves to the DOT for a one-time fee of $2,500.

Jamie Konkoski, who is a member of the trail and train readiness committee, is a senior planner with the firm.

Mrs. McManus explained to the town board the preparations for this grant are really complex. “We need to know exactly how much it is going to cost to use these federal highway funds to build streets and sidewalks here.”

She said the LaBella firm was the only one that responded to the town’s recent request for proposals to help with the grant applications.

Councilman John Gillis noted that the LaBella firm has already provided important services to the town at very little cost in recent months, noting the $2,500 fee is “a drop in the bucket” compared with what the town has already received from the company. It’s a great deal for Tupper!”

Both resolutions were adopted unanimously by the four board members present. Crystal Boucher, who begins her term as a new councilwoman was in attendance that evening in the gallery but not at the board table, as her term doesn’t begin until January 1.

Councilman Rick Donah asked Mrs. McManus if there has been any progress on a better and safer path from the end of the rail/trail at McCarthy Street directly to the train station.

One of the first connections proposed by the state designers was a newly built trail through the woods from where the new rail/trail concludes to the corner where Hebert Lane meets LeBoeuf Street. The connector trail route has been viewed as both unsightly and unsafe, by community leaders here.

“We have expressed our thoughts and concerns and have brought it to all the right peoples’ attention. We’re optimistic that it will be properly taken care of until the final plans are released,” the consultant told him.

A committee of local leaders has met with DOT and DEC higher ups on an informal basis several times this year, where the connection between the terminus of the new trail and Junction neighborhoods have been discussed. The preferred path voiced by the local committee has been directly along the railroad tracks to the station, with several safety measures put in place, rather than the remote route proposed in the state plan via Hebert Lane.

“We’re optimistic” state officials have heard our concerns, Mrs. McManus told Mr. Donah.

The grant applications are due January 9, and in response to another question from the councilman, Mrs. McManus estimated news of the awards might come as early as this summer.

It was noted that evening the completion of the rail/trail to Tupper Lake is expected in the fall of 2025, when it would be nice to have many of the improvements eyed for trail users in place by then.

If the grants come, the improvements they will fund may not be all completed until 2026, the grant writer speculated.

In a related matter that evening the Free Press publisher, who is chairman of Next Stop! Tupper Lake, which still owns the Junction station, said he had been approached by Erik Thomas, an engineer with Bette & Cring, which has won the bid to construct the new platform in front of the station and the “Y” train turnaround site beyond it between next April and December, during which time train service to the station from points south will be temporarily suspended.

Mr. Thomas asked if there was a small amount of space available in the station for a small field office and Mr. McClelland said space would certainly be found for them there to help facilitate the important work that would be going on outside the station.

At Thursday’s meeting Supervisor Rickey Dattola indicated that if the station has passed into town hands by then, he felt his board would certainly welcome the contractors to the station for its oversight of the project.

“So it looks like the train track improvements around the station have come to reality,” after several seasons of late when bid amount tendered far outdistanced construction estimates for the track improvements here, Mr. McClelland told the board.

The town supervisor said that when he attended the recent ribbon-cutting near Ray Brook that marked the opening of the first section of the rail/trail, “everyone there-including many state officials- were optimistic the project would stay on schedule and many couldn’t wait for the new trail to get to Tupper Lake.”

“I told them we have a beautiful station” and the connection of the new trail and the railroad will “be very nice when everything is done!”

He joked that when the trail eventually opens here, “we’ll be serving beer.”