MILLBROOK - A Dutchess County foundation has announced it will provide $1.5 million for an engineering and design study as part of a plan to transform the former Poughkeepsie-Highland Railroad Bridge into a pedestrian park spanning the Hudson River.
Officials say that once the pedestrian park is created it would be the world's longest elevated pedestrian walkway, crossing 212 feet above the Hudson River.
The grant from the Dyson Foundation will allow Walkway Over the Hudson, a nonprofit group that is attempting to preserve the historic bridge and turn it into a public park, to get the project going with hopes of finishing it in time for the 2009 Henry Hudson Quadricentennial celebration.
Fred Schaeffer, chairman of Walkway Over the Hudson, said Dyson funding gives significant movement and credibility to his group's nearly 12-year effort to turn the abandoned railroad bridge into a pedestrian park.
"The Dyson Foundation is providing a tremendous service to the community because this will be great for the entire Hudson Valley," Schaeffer said. "It will help the economy by providing an attraction that will draw tourism from throughout the world."
Schaeffer said once the bridge is refurbished it would be able to accommodate activities such as walking, jogging, biking, rollerblading, and picnicking.
Carol Ash, Commissioner of the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, said, "I am enthused by this project and look forward to working with the Dyson Foundation, our colleagues in government and Walkway Over the Hudson to make it a reality."
Already, Walkway Over the Hudson has secured nearly $1 million in state and federal funding to help pay for construction costs, Schaeffer said. A total budget for the project will be determined by the study.
The $1.5 million Dyson grant will pay for project management, planning and engineering services to be conducted by Bergmann Associates Inc., an engineering and architectural firm in Albany.
Peter Melewski, project manager and a principal with Bergmann, was formerly in charge of engineering design for the state Thruway Authority.
"We're aiming at a very aggressive schedule," Melewski said. "We will assess its maintenance needs and its current capacity, but we feel the bridge is more than adequate for the proposed purpose."
Bergmann Associates wants to complete bidding documents by the summer of 2008 and start construction by next fall in order to meet the fall 2009 deadline.
When it was completed in 1888, the Poughkeepsie-Highland Railroad Bridge was the longest bridge in the world. A 6,767-foot engineering marvel, it was the first Hudson River bridge to be built between Albany and New York City, opening a new vein of commerce between New England and the Western states.
In 1974, a fire led to its demise as a railroad bridge and it went unattended until the mid-1990s when Walkway Over the Hudson started its effort.