Fellow Hurley residents,

Ulster County has all but given up on pursuing a dignified sidewalk on Zandhoek Rd (county road 28) along the Hurley cemetery because of the financial cost. Zandhoek Rd. has been unsafe to pedestrians for decades and cars/trucks are only getting wider, more powerful and quieter. Zandhoek rd leads to the elementary school but parents and their children who live less than ½ a mile way can not walk to the elementary school, library, church, post office or town hall. Both sides of the road are open culverts and there is room for a sidewalk. A child was hit by a car last year in November and that should have been the catalyst for the county to commit to installing a sidewalk for pedestrian safety and other traffic calming measures. It has not. The county is choosing finances over public safety and is only proposing a modest shoulder for pedestrians which offers no protection (elevation, separation) from the road. This is unacceptable in 2024. Our safety and lives have value that the state can afford.

2024 NY state budget is $223B

2024 Ulster County budget is $412M

There are 2272 miles of road in Ulster Co. We are looking for the county to make 0.5 miles safe for pedestrians.

The residents along Zandhoek rd are pleading the county executive, Ulster Dept of Public Works and state DOT allocate the necessary funding and resources for basic, long overdue investments in public safety, namely a sidewalk and traffic calming measures such as speed humps, signage and reduced speed limits.