Dryden, NY (April 21, 2025)
The Town of Dryden has reached a key milestone in the construction of the Dryden Rail Trail bridge over Route 13. In mid-April, the NYS Department of Transportation (DOT) gave the town final approval to seek bids for the project. The bid deadline is May 8, which could allow construction this year.
When completed the trail will span 14.4 miles and connect the eastern boundary of Dryden through the Jim Schug trail section and the Villages of Dryden and Freeville, to Etna, Varna, and the western boundary at Game Farm Road, finally linking into the East Ithaca Recreation Way to Cornell and Ithaca. The new bridge will be located near the intersection with Route 366.
The recreational and commuting trail reclaims the decommissioned Lehigh Valley Railroad corridor for use by walkers, bicyclists, equestrians, nature lovers, and commuters. Beyond the already town-owned Schug section, the town has secured commitments for easements on 42 of 48 pieces of land required to complete the trail, with the remainder in negotiation.
“The Route 13 bridge is the linchpin of the Dryden Rail Trail,” said Dan Lamb, Dryden Deputy Supervisor. “Beyond recreation and transportation alternatives – the basis for several grants – we expect the trail to encourage smart growth, improve access to affordable housing and attract new businesses and tourism.”
More than $3 million in state and federal grants and local contributions have been secured for the project. Cost estimates have risen from $2.2 million to $3.9 million in the six years since the first award, a NYSDOT $1.5 million Transportation Alternatives Program grant, was approved in April 2019.
The project was awarded an earmark grant from U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a NYS Assembly Multi-Modal Transportation grant, and a NYS State Parks Environmental Protection Fund grant. It received contributions from Tompkins County, the Triad Foundation, the Berkshire Hathaway Foundation, and Cornell University. The Knickerbocker Bed Frame Company contributed contiguous land on the east side of the bridge, allowing a more efficient trail placement. More donations to meet the funding gap are being sought. The town will bond for the balance, once costs are known after the bid opening.
Todd Bittner, natural areas director for the Cornell Botanic Gardens – and a member of the Dryden Rail Task Force – served as a lead grant writer for the project. He noted that the rail trail plan aligns with key goals and strategies within Tompkins County and Dryden’s Comprehensive Plans, the County’s 2020 Energy Strategy and Strategic Tourism Plans, and Cornell’s Climate Action Plan.
The trail promises to connect three Cornell Botanic Gardens Natural Areas – Purvis Road Wetlands, Monkey Run and Upper Cascadilla – supporting benefits to physical and mental health that became more widely appreciated during the pandemic.
The bridge project will also include finishing the 1.5-mile section with a stone dust surface like that used on the Black Diamond Trail, making the section from Monkey Run to Pinckney Road fully ADA compliant.
According to Alice Walsh Green, Chair of the Dryden Rail Trail Task Force, the decision to build the bridge came after much consideration, including consultations with experts from the NYS Department of Transportation, the Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation Council, and a county-funded engineering study of alternatives.
“After considering all available options, we determined that the bridge would allow the safest, most cost-effective and commuter-friendly way to cross the busy highway. It will allow trail users continuous access along the trail from Pinckney Road to Game Farm Road,” Green said. “We are also working on the final section of trail, starting with repair of a washed-out railroad bridge east of Pinckney Road, and continuing through Etna to Johnson Road in Freeville, where it will join with the section completed in 2019.”
Contact: Alice Walsh Green, Chair, Dryden Rail Trail Task Force
Dan Lamb, Deputy Supervisor, Town of Dryden
Dryden Rail Trail 