Skip to main content

Mid Hudson Walkabout!

By
Today was a fine fall day, and I really didn't feel like staying in and rotting while the sun was shining, but I had no cash. But I has feets, and there's interesting stuff within reasonable walking distance.

Here's a snap of the southern end of the recently completed Vineyard Ave overpass works on US 9W in Highland. The sign in the midground is brand new. Can you spot the Boo-Boo, Yogi?
Highland and Poughkeepsie Walkabout


Today was rather unique in that I finally decided to deal with one of my phobias. I have a thing about heights in general, and walking across suspension bridges in particular. In the seven years I've lived here, I've never crossed the Mid-Hudson Bridge on foot. Today I decided I was gonna man up and tackle this puppy.

This is a monument to two locals killed in Vietnam north of the foot of the bridge:
Highland and Poughkeepsie Walkabout

Here's the Ulster/Dutchess county line in the middle of the bridge.
Highland and Poughkeepsie Walkabout

A slightly dodgy US 9 advance sign...
Highland and Poughkeepsie Walkabout

And everybody's favourite: Button Copy! This sign has gotta be at least 35-40 years old.
Highland and Poughkeepsie Walkabout


I followed the Walkway Loop Trail, more or less, through Poughkeepsie. There are a lot of interesting things to be found there: some of them road related, some not:
Highland and Poughkeepsie Walkabout
Highland and Poughkeepsie Walkabout

The church is the new Mount Carmel Catholic Church-it dates from 1968: I would have placed it as being much older. This is at the end of Mill Street in Poughkeepsie-within spitting distance of the US 9 Freeway.

I eventually meandered over to my goal-the eastern end of the Walkway. I found this neat item at the turn for Parker Avenue off Washington Street:
Highland and Poughkeepsie Walkabout

This sign indicates the opening date for the Walkway. As I walked up Parker, I got some indication of the popularity of the Walkway. People are selling parking spots. There was a lady in front of Tech-Mechanical selling spots in their car park for 3 bucks, and a guy further up the street selling spots for $5. There was no parking to be had on Parker Ave; and the car park at the eastern foot of the bridge was full up.

When I got onto the walkway, I noticed that there was some railway debris in the woods beside the trail, and ultimately, I ran into this old signal:
Highland and Poughkeepsie Walkabout

Sadly the lens was broken, and it looks in pretty bad shape. It'd be nice if someone restored it.

Having a public park running through your back yard isn't stunningly popular with everybody. As I was walking along, I heard some guy complaining about people looking out over his yard: 'It's "private property"' he was saying over and over again. That may be so, but if something is of interest to people, they're gonna look at it, and there's sod all you can do about it. Sucks to be him, I suppose.

There are a lot of nice views to be had from the Walkway:
Highland and Poughkeepsie Walkabout

And fun and interesting things to see, like water traffic along the Hudson:
Highland and Poughkeepsie Walkabout

This latter bit was absolutely fascinating to a little boy walking along the bridge with his family. He was darting all about to get a glimpse of the 'Tuggy'. People were also interested in watching the trains on the west shore of the Hudson. There was a fair crowd on the walkway, today-not elbow to elbow, but there were all sorts of folks taking in the nice weather and the views. It's been pretty consistent: if the weather is fine at the weekend, there will be a lot of folks on the bridge. Not just locals, either. I saw a few out of state plates, too.

For those who are interested Here's the Flickr set. Tomorrow looks to be fine, too, so there may be additions!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Grand Loop Road of Yellowstone National Park

By
  Grand Loop Road is a 140 mile loop highway which traverses the interior of Yellowstone National Park.  Grand Loop Road connects all of the major attractions and geological features of Yellowstone National Park along with the entrance roads.  Grand Loop Road is a seasonal highway and despite some conjecture never has been part of the US Route System.   Part 1; the history of Grand Loop Road The majority of history pertaining to Grand Loop Road was taken from the below National Park Service article: Historic Roads - Yellowstone National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov) Yellowstone was declared the first National Park of the United States on March 1st, 1872.  The first real highway to access Yellowstone National Park came in 1873 when a tolled facility was constructed from Bozeman, Montana via Yankee Jim Canyon to Mammoth Hot Springs.  Numerous attempts were made to fund construction of roadway infrastructure during the early years of Yellows...
Post a Comment
Read more

The last 1956-63 era California Sign State Route Spade?

By
Along southbound California State Route 170 (the Hollywood Freeway Extension) approaching the Hollywood Freeway/Ventura Freeway interchange a white California State Route 134 Sign State Route Spade can be observed on guide sign.  These white spades were specifically used during the 1956-63 era and have become increasingly rare.  This blog is intended to serve as a brief history of the Sign State Route Spade.  We also ask you as the reader, is this last 1956-63 era Sign State Route Spade or do you know of others?  Part 1; the history of the California Sign State Route Spade Prior to the Sign State Route System, the US Route System and the Auto Trails were the only highways in California signed with reassurance markers.  The creation of the US Route System by the American Association of State Highway Officials during November 1926 brought a system of standardized reassurance shields to major highways in California.  Early efforts to create a Sign State Route ...
Post a Comment
Read more

California State Route 70; the Feather River Highway

By
From 2017 through to early 2019 I drove the majority of the California State Route 70; the Feather River Highway from CA 89 southwest to CA 99. CA 70 is an approximately 178.5 mile state highway which starts at US 395 near the Nevada State Line and travels west through the Feather River Canyon to CA 99.  CA 70 is often referred to as the Feather River Highway" given it's close association with the river.  Historically CA 70 was previously signed as US 40A and CA 24.  The Legislative Routes prior to the 1964 California Highway Renumbering that made up the current route of CA 70 are as follows: -  Legislative Route Number 21 from US 395 westward to Oroville. -  LRN 87 from Oroville south to Marysville. -  LRN 232 from Marysville to the current junction with CA 99.  CA 70 was even dual signed with CA 99 into Sacramento on what was LRN 232 for a time. The change from US 40A/LRN 21/LRN 87/LRN 232 can be seen by comparing the 1963 State Highway Ma...
Post a Comment
Read more