Vanderbilt Cup Races

As reported last year, the contract for developing a master plan for a Motor Parkway Trailway in Nassau County has been awarded to VHB Engineering, Surveying and Landscape Architecture, P.C. Members of the Long Island Motor Parkway Panel, including myself, met with VHB, LIPA and Nassau officials yesterday to provide input and the comments submitted on VanderbiltCupRaces.com.

VHB recently issued this press release on the project:

VHB TO DEVELOP MASTER PLAN FOR HISTORIC LI MOTOR PARKWAY TRAILWAY

- Once a playground for the rich and famous of the Gatsby era, now will be a biking and hiking trail for all to enjoy

HAUPPAUGE, NY - January 22, 2010 - The Long Island Motor Parkway will once again become a recreational amenity - now for all to enjoy. The Nassau County Department of Public Works has selected VHB to develop a master plan for the reuse of the Long Island Motor Parkway Trailway. Once completed, the LIMP Trailway will become a trail for hikers and bicyclists to enjoy, while maintaining its historical significances. It will also provide an important transportation connection between communities, open space resources, and employment centers for those wishing to walk or bike through Nassau County.

Well before the everyday traffic congestion on the Long Island Expressway or Northern State Parkway, William K. Vanderbilt Jr.'s Long Island Motor Parkway provided a leisurely and picturesque drive from Queens to Ronkonkoma after the turn of the last century. The nation's first concrete high speed road was ideal for the rich and famous of the day to drive and race their cars.

When ground was broken in 1908, the road was marveled by A.R. Pardington, the then-vice president of the Long Island Motor Parkway and general manager of the Vanderbilt Cup, who stated, "Think of the time it will save the busy man of. Speed limits are left behind, the Great White Way is before him, and with the throttle open he can go, go, go and keep going, 50, 60 or 90 miles an hour until Riverhead or Southampton is reached, in time for a scotch at the Meadow Brook Club, a round of golf and a refreshing dip in the surf, and all before dinner is served, or the electric lights begin to twinkle."

The undertaking of the project will utilize VHB's resources and depth of experience in creating master plans for recreational facilities, bikeways and greenways from Maine to Florida. VHB will inventory existing conditions of the trail and its right-of-ways and transversals through private properties and analyze route options and design accessible, easily maintained trails for public use. Identifying where the parkway was originally located will require the use of historical records and old maps as well as conversations with groups and individuals familiar with the parkway and its history.

A key aspect of the project will be community participation, including outreach to the public and trail advocates to take part in meetings. VHB will work with county personnel to advertise public meetings and target local officials, civic and business organizations, parks and open space proponents and other stakeholder groups to attend.

Once completed, the comprehensive master plan for the Long Island Motor Parkway Trailway will include details on existing conditions, structures, road crossings and profile the trail for proposed grading, drainage, trail alignment, plantings and other treatments such as trail markers and signs. Completion of the plan is expected to take six to nine months. Other deliverables to the county will consist of construction cost estimates and identifying any permits or approvals necessary and to develop a timeline for the project.VHB has already conducted several meetings with the Long Island Motor Parkway Panel, a volunteer group dedicated to the historic preservation and revitalization of the trail.

VanderbiltCupRaces.com will be providing regular updates on this project.