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The village of New Paltz is a justly popular place to start and finish
bicycle rides. There are many routes into and out of town, but
most of them have some significant traffic interaction risks.
You need to make your own assessment about the traffic patterns and
traffic interaction risks, and make your own plans about what roads to
ride on and when, and what traffic-handling strategies and techniques to
use.
This page gives our thoughts as of October 2000 about some of the
different alternatives, to offer another perspective which might help
you form your assessment and plans.
We do not live in New Paltz, and we are not experts on New Paltz
traffic. These thoughts are based on our limited experience with
these roads in normal daylight hours on weekend days when we usually do
our bicycling. Traffic patterns on weekdays or in the evening or
night or dawn hours may be very different. Even on different
weekend days, traffic patterns can vary widely -- especially for special
events and seasons (e.g. SUNY New Paltz college events, fall foliage,
Ulster County fair, parades) -- or road closures -- or for no
discernable reason at all. And as the months and years progress,
the patterns change overall. Ours is only one perspective given at
one time.
We label the routes in their in-bound direction, since it's easiest
to see the differences.
Horsenden -- Old Kingston -- Huguenot
Once you get to Old Kingston and Huguenot, the traffic is typically
lower volume or lower speed.
The major problem here is Horsenden, with the combination of:
(A) Many motor vehicles who want to go between Rt 32 north of New
Paltz to the Thruway east of New Paltz, and the fastest way is by taking
Horsenden and North Putt Corners; and
(B) Horsenden has no or narrow shoulders, lots of curves, dips, and
hills -- so there are several points where a bicyclist might not be
visible to overtaking cars before they are only a short distance away.
We recommend normally not taking Horseden in the uphill
direction (East-bound), because you spend more time in exposed in
low-visibility sections, and because for many riders it's more difficult
to control bicycle steering when going uphill. We would consider
taking Horsenden in the downhill (West-bound) direction, especially at a
time of lower traffic.
Ohioville -- Rt 299 -- N Putt Corners -- DuBois
The main difficulty here is Rt 299. Since the latest
construction around 2000, the section going over the New York State
Thruway now has both a shoulder and a sidewalk, so that should be enough
options for most riders.
But going East-bound on Rt 299, crossing the entrance and exit roads for the New York State Thruway can
be tricky. See resources on
traffic-handling for some ideas for techniques for how to handle these traffic interaction
risks.
N Putt Corners has no shoulder, but lanes are of reasonable width,
and visibility to cars is good.
DuBois requires some extra hill-climbing, and several stop signs.
It has no shoulders, but lanes are of reasonable width.
If you want to avoid the section on Rt 299, consider the Brookside
route, but this has traffic interaction risks of its own.
Ohioville -- Rt 299 -- Rt 32 / S Mannheim -- Plattekill -- Hasbrouck
-- Mohonk
By taking Mohonk, Hasbrouck, and Plattekill, you can avoid the
western section of Main St / Rt 299 between Front St and the Wallkill
River bridge -- which is on the steepest climb and has many parked
cars. These streets also require short sections on Rt 32 and Rt
208 which have higher volumes and higher speeds of motor vehicle
traffic.
But a major concern is the long time spent on Main St / Rt 299.
For going East-bound, actually it turns out that most of this is fairly
wide, and with few parked cars. But there are a few places where
it narrows, or where a right-turn lane takes over the shoulder.
And crossing the entrance and exit roads for the New York State Thruway
can be tricky. See resources
on traffic-handling for how best to handle these traffic interaction
risks. (We have not yet tried going West-bound on Main St / Rt
299).
If you want to avoid the section on Rt 299, consider the Brookside
route, but this has traffic interaction risks of its own.
You can also use the Brookside route from
the North-West, by crossing over Rt 299 to South Ohioville Rd. See
below about its traffic interaction risks.
Coming from the north, the section on South Ohioville Rd adds miles
to the route, and we've also noticed that it can get a significant
volume of traffic.
Neither Rt 32 or Rt 208 has very wide shoulders in their sections
near New Paltz. So we try to look for a sequence of roads which
minimize the time spent on those.
Brookside -- Rt 32 -- Jansen
-- Cedar -- Plains -- Water
This requires over 0.2 mile on Rt 32 with high volumes of high-speed
traffic and shoulders not wide.
The other problem is Jansen Rd is not wide, and at its West end it has some curves without
good visibility, and on a hill. Taking it in the West-bound
direction goes down the hill, which we definitely prefer. But
if needed to fit into a good route, we will ride it East-bound,
especially at a time with lower traffic volume.
Allhusen -- Rt 32 -- DuBois -- Jansen -- Cedar -- Plains -- Water
This requires over 1 mile on Rt 32 with high volumes of high-speed
traffic and shoulders not wide.
The other problem is Jansen Rd is not wide, and at its West end it has some curves without
good visibility, and on a hill. Taking it in the West-bound
direction goes down the hill, which we definitely prefer. But
if needed to fit into a good route, we will ride it East-bound,
especially at a time with lower traffic volume.
We would not normally take this route, since the Brookside route has
substantially less time on Rt 32.
Old Ford -- Rt 208 -- Cedar -- Plains --
Water
This requires about 1.4 miles on Rt 208 with high volumes of
high-speed traffic and shoulders not wide. Much of this is on a
significant hill. We prefer to avoid riding that section in the
South-bound direction, since that goes up the biggest part of the
hill. The North-bound direction also has some uphill. This
section of Rt 208 could be avoided by taking the Wallkill Valley Rail
Trail.
Old Ford -- Rail Trail -- Cedar -- Plains -- Water
This route has little motor vehicle traffic interaction.
Provided Old Ford Rd is where you want to go, and you don't mind riding
for about 1.2 miles on an unpaved trail, this is a good route.
This is shared by all but one of the North-West and South-West
routes. The bridge is not wide. But it's short, so we've
never felt any discomfort riding across it, using standard
traffic-handling techniques (see resources
on traffic-handling).
The only way to avoid it is by taking the Wallkill
Valley Rail Trail.
Ulster County Rt 7 -- Rt 299
Gets more high-speed traffic than we would wish, and often has narrow
or no shoulders. There are some curves that may lack good visibility for brief
periods. It seems to us that this road is overall more downhill in
the North direction, so we prefer that.
Goes by the Ulster County Fairgrounds, so watch out for special event
days.
Since it's the fastest way from the Thruway to many points West of
New Paltz, Rt 299 can get a high volume of high-speed traffic. It
has narrow shoulders (perhaps sometimes no shoulders). There are some curves that
may lack good visibility for brief
periods. And it has hills -- It is definitely more uphill in
the West-bound direction, but there are also some significant uphills in
the East-bound direction. So to ride this road you need to be very
confident of your bicycle control and traffic-handling skills on
hills.
Rt 44 has mostly reasonable shoulders between Ulster County Rt 7
across the Shawangunk ridges to Rt 209.
A way to avoid the hilly sections on Rt 299 from New Paltz to its
intersection with Rt 44 is to take Rt 7 South to Rt 44, and then go West
on Rt 44.
A way to avoid most of the section of Rt 299 between the Wallkill
River bridge and Rt 7 (and more) is to take Mountain Rest Rd and
Butterville Rd.
Ulster County Rt 7 -- Albany Post -- Butterville -- Mountain Rest --
UC Rt 7
This avoids the sections of Ulster County Rt 7 and Rt 299 which are
nearest to New Paltz, which might be expected to get the most
traffic. And it goes past some nice scenery. But it adds
some hills -- and traffic interaction on Mountain
Rest Rd (see below).
Especially useful when there is an event at the Ulster County
Fairgrounds.
Mountain Rest -- Ulster County Rt 7
-- Rt 299
Mountain Rest Rd (Ulster County Rt 6) between Butterville Rd and Ulster
County Rt 7 has a sharp rise, which perhaps
lacks good visibility for a brief period. We do not see a
preferred direction for going over this hill. It has narrow or
no shoulders. On big weekends at Mohonk (especially fall foliage),
it can get a significant volume of traffic.
Mountain Rest Rd west of Butterville Rd goes up a steep hill with
curves, including some periods of low visibility, with no or narrow
shoulders. See the Traffic
Discussion for the Great Shawangunk Hill Loop.
Gets more high-speed traffic than we would wish, and often has narrow
or no shoulders.
There are some curves that may lack good visibility for brief
periods. But the big problem as of October 2000 is that this
is combined with rather rough road conditions, especially in its
northern half.
The Wallkill Valley Rail Trail can
be used as an alternative for various parts of Springtown Rd.
Wallkill Valley Rail Trail
If you're willing to ride on an unpaved path, this is a good way to
avoid some of the rough sections of Springtown Rd, or even the Main St /
Rt 299 bridge crossing over the Wallkill. You can ride on it
almost all the way to Rosendale. See the route New
Paltz North -- Rail Trail and Road.
more
See traffic discussion pages for these routes:
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