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Harrison May Join 2,900-Mile East Coast Greenway

HARRISON, N.Y. -- Harrison might become  the newest stop on a 2,900-mile trail from Canada to Florida known as the East Coast Greenway.

Signs similar to this would be placed along Halstead Avenue and Osborne Road in Harrison if the town joins the East Coast Greenway Alliance.

Signs similar to this would be placed along Halstead Avenue and Osborne Road in Harrison if the town joins the East Coast Greenway Alliance.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of the East Coast Greenway Alliance

The Greenway is a national system of trails and roads that stretches along the entire east coast. The project was started in 1991 by a group of cyclists and long-trail enthusiasts with the aim of promoting biking, hiking and other non-motorized activities. The off-road sections of the Greenway are about 1,000 miles long, though the ultimate goal is to make the entire Greenway off-road.

The town is considering installing signs signifying that it is a part of the Greenway. The 15 signs would be provided by the East Coast Greenway Alliance, a Rhode Island-based non-profit that is spearheading the project. The signs would be installed on both sides of the road along Halstead Avenue and Osborne Road. The signs are about the size of a speed limit sign.

Harrison would join several other Westchester communities that are becoming part of the Greenway, according to Andy Hamilton, the Mid-Atlantic coordinator for the East Coast Greenway Alliance. The alliance has either installed signs or is in the process of installing them in Pelham Manor, New Rochelle, Port Chester, Rye, Mamaroneck and Larchmont. These communities and New York City will be the only New York locations along the Greenway.

"One of the things we like to do when we get into a community is we like to get to the services of the community," Hamilton said. This summer a group of 50 bicyclists traveling from Hartford to Philadelphia traveled through Harrison on roads that would become part of the Greenway, and stopped to visit some of the local businesses for food."That's one of the reasons we like to go to main streets, and there is often an economic development opportunity for a town."

The roads where the signs would be installed are county roads, and the alliance has received approval from the county and the state to install signs. Harrison's Town Board will vote on the issue at an upcoming meeting.

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