The Harriet Tubman Byway has secured nearly unanimous support from municipalities and counties along its proposed 550-plus-mile route from Manhattan to Niagara Falls.
The route will be paid for by grant money given to the Underground Railroad Consortium of New York State, and the state Department of Transportation is expected to assume all signage construction costs.
Sage Hamilton-Hazarika, one of the byway proposal’s key players, says the bill is important because it will encourage local tourism.
“The idea’s that more travelers would lead to more spending in places that might not always get that kind of attention,” Hamilton-Hazarika said.
Among the core tenets of local resolutions is an agreement to “not approve any new requests for outdoor advertising.”
“What’s really special is that the byway will preserve this history so that new audiences and younger people can access it and also learn more about their hometowns,” Hamilton-Hazarika said.
Hamilton-Hazarika and the consortium’s Niagara Falls-based president, Ally Spongr DeGon, planned meetings and educational events along the route, including one in Syracuse on Tuesday.
The heritage group hopes to introduce legislation for the byway in early 2027.
Comparable historic byways, such as Maryland’s Harriet Tubman Byway, a 125-mile route, contribute roughly $20 million annually to the area.