County and village officials gathered Tuesday afternoon to cut the ribbon on a new stretch of sidewalk along Saddle River Road in Chestnut Ridge, marking the end of a stretch where residents had no safe place to walk for years. The project added about one mile of new curbs and sidewalks on the Chestnut Ridge side of Saddle River Road, also known as County Road 73, running from the Terrace Court area north to the New York State Thruway.
The $1.7 million project was funded through a Rockland County grant secured by County Legislator Joel Friedman, who represents District 15. As Monsey Scoop reports, the stretch had no sidewalk at all before construction began, leaving pedestrians to walk in or alongside a busy roadway. Construction began in mid-July and wrapped up in October, with A-Tech Concrete crews spending three months on the work.
Village Engineer Martin Spence of Spence Engineering prepared the project's design and engineering plans, according to the same report. Friedman credited the Village of Chestnut Ridge with helping make the project happen, noting that the village contributed engineering and design work alongside the county funding. He said the project would not have happened without the village's involvement.
A Years-Long Push for Safer Streets
The new sidewalk addresses a problem Chestnut Ridge officials have been flagging for some time. Earlier plans for the corridor, previously detailed by Rockland Daily, called for new curbing and sidewalks together with grading and drainage improvements where needed, with construction originally expected to take about three months and finish in the fall — a timeline that matches how the project ultimately played out.
The Village of Chestnut Ridge had previously identified Saddle River Road, along with Hungry Hollow Road and South Pascack Road, as major streets that either lacked sidewalks entirely or had deteriorating ones. The village board sent a formal letter to Rockland County urging officials to fund sidewalks and repairs on county-managed roads, after pedestrians on some of those routes were forced to walk directly on busy streets. The village has also installed street lights over the past few years as part of its broader push for pedestrian safety.
Officials Say the New Path Is Already in Daily Use
Deputy Mayor Chaim Rose said pedestrians should not have to walk in the street just to get home, and Village Trustee Shmuli Fromovitz said Saddle River Road is now safer than it has ever been. Mayor Rosario Presti, Jr. said sidewalks improve safety and bring people together. Attendees at the ribbon-cutting also included County Executive Ed Day, Rockland County Legislature Chairman Jay Hood Jr. and Town of Ramapo Supervisor Michael Specht.
The sidewalk is already being used by families walking to NewDay Market, children running errands, and residents visiting neighbors, as well as by Airmont residents who live nearby. Officials describe it as providing pedestrians with a safe, continuous place to walk along a stretch where none existed before.
Part of a Larger County Sidewalk Push
County materials describe the Saddle River Road project as the first completed under Rockland County's broader $30 million countywide sidewalk initiative, which the adopted county budget has earmarked for sidewalks along county-designated roadways across all 17 legislative districts, according to the Rockland County government. The county's Budget & Finance Committee had recommended the capital project in December 2024 as a way to improve pedestrian safety countywide.
Other Rockland communities have seen similar investments. Nanuet received $1.5 million for sidewalk construction and replacement, according to The Rockland County Times, while the Village of Nyack was awarded $244,500 through a county Community Development Block Grant to build a new sidewalk along Kilby Street, per the Village of Nyack. Friedman has said he plans to bring the Chestnut Ridge project model to other parts of Rockland County.
