The new Walkway Over the Hudson at Poughkeepsie opened to the public as a New York State Park in October 2009. It is the highest, longest walking/bicycle bridge in the United States. It was built on a railroad bridge that was originally constructed in 1884 to enable freight trains to cross the Hudson River and provide a rail link from New England to the rest of the country. It was the first rail crossing over the Hudson. The roadbed sits more than 200 feet (60 meters) above the surface of the River and its four anchoring pylons were dug to a depth of 120 feet below the river. In 1974 there was a fire on the tracks and the railroads stopped using the bridge and the rail route it connected on either side of the river. It was eventually donated to be converted to a pedestrian walkway connecting the east side of the Hudson to the West side. The railroad tracks on that line were removed long ago and the existing right-of-way is now a hiking trail.