EDR served as the Lead Consultant developing the Madison County Old Erie Canal Corridor Local Waterfront Redevelopment Plan. The Corridor is approximately 36 miles in length as it follows the Old Erie Canal State Historic Park (OECSHP) which stretches from the Town of Dewitt to the City of Rome. It represents the longest intact portion of the original Erie Canal system. Those 36 miles, also known as the “towpath trail”, are part of the 363-mile Erie Canalway Trail that stretches across NY State. Moreover, the Erie Canalway Trail is now part of the NY Empire State Trail system.
The OEC is one of the area’s greatest assets and represents a unique economic development and tourism opportunity for the canal-side communities along the Corridor. The OEC Corridor includes the surrounding communities and adjacent properties along the OECSHP as well as the OECSHP itself, and the OEC waterway. Specifically, the corridor travels through 3 counties, 5 towns, 4 villages, and 2 cities. The primary waterfront goals being addressed in the LWRP are to coordinate efforts into a single plan that emphasizes the Old Erie Canal as a means for downtown revitalization, reuse of underutilized canal-side properties, connecting downtowns to the canal, alternative transportation modes, and increased recreational opportunities, understanding and improvement of water quality and flow in the canal, and collaborating efforts to create a more cohesive destination.