Castleton-on-Hudson hopeful for safe access to land

CASTLETON-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. (NEWS10) – For 30 years Castleton-on-Hudson residents have fought to be able to safely access their land. A railroad track separates the village from the land and on Tuesday a judge heard testimony from Amtrak and the public on how they believe residents can safely cross the tracks. 

Residents want to be able to safely access the land on the other side of the railroad track. And their requests are in line with a 1994 New York State Department of Transportation administrative judge, who ordered the crossing close but it was contingent on the land near the river being made into a park that was supposed to be accessible to the public by tunnel….”until that work is completed it is necessary to maintain access to the crossing.”

On Tuesday, NYSDOT Administrative Law Judge Dustin Howard heard testimony from local residents who described the land as the beating heart of the community and they desperately want to reconnect it. 

However, Amtrak officials say closing the crossing, entirely, is the safest option. Justin Meko is the VP of Operational Safety for Amtrak.

“Elimination is the, from a hierarchy of control standpoint, is the safest thing that you could do to protect human beings, and we have introduced elimination at that crossing in 1994. And even with that elimination there’s still been a fatality at that railroad crossing,” said Meko.

Mayor Joe Keegan said they are just as concerned about safety. “Lots of devastating testimony about safety, accidents, and things. And we hear what they’re saying. Safety is paramount for us, too. Their testimony is very compelling, but obviously our petition was compelling enough for a judge from New York State DOT to hear our case,” said Keegan.

Initially the NYSDOT recommended a tunnel and that was later found to not be feasible, due to the water table. The department then recommended a bridge to the village. However, the town prefers a ground-level crossing with safety gates. Keegan said it’s more financially feasible. 

“This is our preferred option for so many reasons. We’ve actually asked DOT to provide us maintenance costs, input on to how a bridge would look, and it was always a one-way conversation. We would ask and they wouldn’t respond,” said Keegan. “It’s the village reaching out to DOT, asking to come to the table to discuss this and they would nod their heads and say, ‘Absolutely,’ and then they would never get back to us and they really just want us to go away and we’re not gonna go away.”

During Tueday’s testimony representatives from Amtrak insisted there are safer alternatives, but ultimately were requesting to close the crossing altogether. 

“By eliminating that crossing, and not reopening it, I could prevent – I can limit the access. To reopen it, you open yourself up to the behaviors that were exhibited in 2018,” said Meko.

That 2018 accident was brought up throughout testimony. Thomas Brust was 27 years old when he was struck and killed by an Amtrak passenger train, along the crossing. Eric Rager was fishing there when it happened.

“It was a big loss, nobody ever wants to see that,” said Rager. He’s confident that if they had this type of ground-level crossing with safety gates in place at that time it would have saved Brust’s life in 2018.

“Because he wouldn’t have been able to go, that gate would’ve blocked him when the train goes by and he would not have been able to go,” said Rager. “Whenever I see somebody new down there, the first thing I say is this train goes very fast, be very careful.”

Keegan understands that many residents wish to access the land safely. Many are already doing so under dangerous conditions, climbing fences or going over a nearby crossing and walking along the tracks.

“And that is not safe and we’re trying to provide at least some safety measures that have been proven in other cities to work and reduce crossing fatalities,” said Keegan.

Public comments can be submitted until February 12.