Bob Kastigar said:
Isn't there a recreational path along the canal? What affect would this have on recreational
facilities? Is this something the cycling community needs to be concerned about?
I thought I had replied to this, but the reply doesn't show. Yes there is a recreational path in
progress -- much of it has been completed. I don't know how these cuts would affect it.
Here is an eMail which I did for some fellow canal buffs:
I think it is a bum deal, but the article, especially the headline, does not put the deal in
perspective.
1. The Erie Canal was NOT sold, but access rights were sold to a certain percentage of the canal
length -- that is, the right to make cuts from real estate developments to the Canal.
2. The price was not $30,000, but $30,000 plus an additional sum for each cut.
Some valid arguments can be made for some deal of this sort. The article mentioned that the Canal is
costing some 70 million dollars a year versus a few million dollars in revenue, the difference being
subsidized by N.Y. Thruway revenues. I understand that commercial use of the Canal for transport of
goods and commodities is nil. Leisure use of the Canal is limited, especially the Western portion
where the height of the lift bridges prevents usage by cabin cruisers and passenger cruise boats.
Something has to be done to promote usage in order to justify the cost. Cabin cruisers with flying
bridges navigating between Lake Erie and the Atlantic, especially the inland waterway, have to take
the Welland Canal to Lake Ontario, and then the Oswego Canal to the Eastern portion of the Erie
Canal (which is canalized rivers) to the Hudson River. The Western portion of the Erie is deep
enough that cruising sailboats can use it if they take the masts down.
However, the deal made seems to be a sweetheart deal pushed through by a speculator with connections
with no assurance at all that it will ever produce usage or revenues.
a. The rights are to make an undetermined number of cuts along an unspecified percentage of its
length. There is no assurance that there will ever be any development, or that any eventual
development would be beneficial to the Canal. I think that the deal might in fact block others
from making more suitable proposals.
b. From the article, it appeared that the formula for determining fees for each cut is
extremely vague.
c. The article did not address possible impact on or accommodation of the CanalWay
bicycling/hiking trail presently in various stages of completion along the trail.
Here is more information about the CanalWay Trail:
canals.state.ny.ustrailOpen ↗ nypca.orgindex.shtmlOpen ↗
Here are some map pages:
canals.state.ny.usindex.htmlOpen ↗ nypca.orgcanalway traillg.shtmlOpen ↗
Here is the official canal web site home page:
canals.state.ny.usindex.htmlOpen ↗
Some other links:
eriecanal.orgcanal links.htmlOpen ↗ nycanal.comnycanal.comOpen ↗
history.rochester.educanalOpen ↗ syracuse.comeriecanalOpen ↗
palmyrany.comcanal.htmOpen ↗ users.erols.comlinks.htmlOpen ↗
history.rochester.edubibOpen ↗ nyhistory.comErie Canal.htmOpen ↗
westernny.comerie.htmlOpen ↗ encyclopedianys.syr.eduerie q.htmOpen ↗
cobblestonepub.comErieCanal.htmlOpen ↗ canals.orgerie.htmOpen ↗
village.canastota.ny.uscanal.htmOpen ↗ dencities.comeriecanal.htmlOpen ↗
newyorkstategifts.comercasobercag.htmlOpen ↗
geography.about.comaa102000a.htmOpen ↗ fogvg.orghome.htmlOpen ↗
(Genesee Canal)
A Google or other search will come up with additional links. Also, some of the links in this eMail
have link pages as well.
--
Cheers! OliverS When replying personally, remove "_removespam_"
"When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race." HG Wells
