Ulster County’s plans to add a bus stop for Woodstock’s new library, a mile and a half east of its former location, are in limbo as officials seek to hire more drivers to expand its network.

Ulster County Area Transit’s Route Z includes stops at the corner of Route 212 and Rock City Road, within walking distance of the library’s former location. The new, bigger building on Dixon Avenue is a 10-minute bike ride or 35-minute walk from the center of town along a road that lacks sidewalks or a bicycle lane.

“Any adjustment to a single route has ripple effects across the entire system, because all of our routes and schedules are interconnected,” said Amberly Jane Campbell, the assistant deputy county executive, in an email. “It’s a domino effect. Even small changes in one area can reduce service elsewhere. To expand or modify service in a meaningful way, we simply need more drivers to support it.”

Administrators at the institution, which drew almost 72,000 visitors in 2024 to its former location on Library Lane, have long sought a bus stop to make services such as free internet access more available for young people or non-drivers. The new location, triple the size of its former incarnation, opened last year after weathering a 20-year process marked by two defeated referendums.

“The sooner we can get service, the better.” Ivy Gocker, director of the Woodstock Library, an institution whose roots date to 1913. “People ask about it just about every day. We offer all these services for free, but the critical step is for people to get here, to use those services.”

The UCAT line that would include the library stop would link Woodstock to the Ulster County Development Court municipal complex in the Town of Ulster, via Kingston Plaza. 

The county will post new driver trainee openings soon, Campbell said.

John W. Barry is a reporter for The Overlook. Reach him at john@theoverlooknews.com.