Grand Opening Celebration planned for Sept. 8<\/p>\n
(Oneida, NY – Aug. 2014) A ribbon-cutting event will be held Sept. 8 at 6 p.m. to officially open a 1 mile section of the City of Oneida\u2019s Oneida Rail Trail (ORT).<\/p>\n
Utilizing existing rail beds, the envisioned ORT trail system will eventually circle the city.\u00a0 While many portions of the rail beds are used by the community now, the 1 mile section represents the first portion to be officially open and designated for public use. \u00a0<\/p>\n
The ribbon-cutting event will be held at the new trailhead located along Hubbard Place and is open to the public to attend.\u00a0 Events include opening remarks by Mayor Max Smith and a guided walking tour by local rail historian John Taibi.<\/p>\n
The 1 mile section stretches from Hubbard Place along a former rail bed east to Lenox Avenue.\u00a0 Parking is along Hubbard Place.\u00a0 Eventually, the trail will cross Lenox Avenue and continue east, but for now the trail is an out-and-back.<\/p>\n
The Oneida Improvement Committee, the non-profit partner helping to develop the trail system, will hold a clean-up event on Saturday, Sept. 6 from 9 a.m. to noon to get the section ready for opening. Those interested in volunteering should contact the Oneida Improvement Committee at info@improveoneida.com.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are thrilled to have this first section opening and for the community to come out and use it,\u201d said Mayor Max Smith.\u00a0 \u201cThis is just the beginning. We believe the Oneida Rail Trail is going to be much more than a trail but a catalyst for new opportunities in Oneida.\u201d<\/p>\n
The trail will be open to hiking and biking as well as cross-country skiing and snow shoeing in the winter.\u00a0 Leashed pets are also welcome on the trail. Motorized vehicles are not permitted on the trail.\u00a0 Trail users are asked to please respect private property and stay on the trail.<\/p>\n
In January 2014, the city received funding from the state Department of Transportation Enhancement Program for a 3.1 mile segment of the ORT.\u00a0 Eventually this 3.1 mile segment will connect to the 1 mile segment being opened now.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the unique features of the Oneida Rail Trail is that unlike a typical rail trail, which is usually just an out-and-back, Oneida has the opportunity to use three bisecting rail beds to create a loop around the city,\u201d said Luke Griff, Parks and Recreation Department director. \u201cIn terms of the 1 mile segment very little was needed to open it as the city owns the property. The trail has been an envisioned city project for years and many sections are already being used.\u00a0 We just have to stitch the pieces together.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Grand Opening Celebration planned for Sept. 8 (Oneida, NY – Aug. 2014) A ribbon-cutting event will be held Sept. 8 at 6 p.m. to officially open a 1 mile section of the City of Oneida\u2019s Oneida Rail Trail (ORT). Utilizing existing rail beds, the envisioned ORT trail system will eventually circle the city.\u00a0 While many […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-top-story"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p43meu-f0d","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=57673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57673\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=57673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=57673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=57673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}