Projects
Heritage Trail Extension
HVEA was the prime design consultant for this three PIN, 10 mile shared-use path extension project to provide a link from the Village of Goshen to the City of Middletown. This project featured unique alignment and coordination challenges, multi-municipal agency coordination and environmental challenges as large sections of the abandoned Erie Railroad alignment were sold and developed. Special attention was required on routing through the City of Middletown and the Village of Goshen, specifically creating links to destinations such as the future Middletown Transportation Center and Thrall Library and maximizing trail user exposure to the business district.
The design for this challenging shared-use path project incorporated a balance of safety, functionality, and aesthetics. HVEA was responsible for designing a 10′ wide continuous shared use path, 36 at-grade crossings, extensive routing assessments, emergency access, rehabilitation of 4 bridges, design of 3 new pedestrian bridges and a new concrete box culvert/tunnel, a marked ADA compliant sidewalk link in the Village of Goshen, information kiosks, environmental permitting, NYSDOT Highway Work and Use & Occupancy Permits, and obtained NEPA and FHWA concurrence through the NYSDOT Local Projects Unit.
Sustainability and innovative design solutions are key guiding principles of engineering, and our bridge engineers found an inventive solution to incorporate deck panels from the Tappan Zee Bridge to replace two railroad superstructures that were previously removed. The Tappan Zee Bridge had more than 2,000 precast deck panels, some only 5 years old, that could be utilized on other projects, such as the Orange County Heritage Trail.
This project included:
- 10 miles of paved shared use trail
- At-grade crossings
- Steel bridge rehabilitation
- Prefabricated superstructure design
- Parking lot and access path design
- Environmental considerations including an application for an Army Corps/DEC joint permit
- Field inspection for determination of section loss to be used for the structural analysis
Awards: 2023 ACEC NY Gold Award in Category H: Transportation Systems