LOWVILLE, New York (WWNY) - Progress has been made in the controversial Rails to Trails project in Lewis County.

Old rail lines stretching from Lowville to Carthage and east to Croghan are now county property following a long-awaited purchase.

“Obviously, it’s an appreciating asset. It’s running right through a lot of our communities, and it’s just falling apart,” said Lewis County Manager Tim Hunt.

So the county plans to take those rails and make something new.

Hunt says the Rails to Trails Initiative has been in motion since 2022, but had to go through a process in which the state and federal governments declared the rails to be surplus and not needed for national purposes.

The county was finally able to purchase the former railroad property for $2.5 million.

“There was money set a

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