RAY BROOK "" The Adirondack Park Agency recently received a federal grant of $210,000 from the Highway Administration's Scenic Byways program.

The agency will use the money to improve parking, signing and interpretive exhibits along the Olympic Scenic Byway, specifically the Route 86 portion that parallels the west branch of the Ausable River between Lake Placid and Wilmington.

The project covers an approximate eight-mile stretch of Route 86.

The APA, in cooperation with the State Department of Transportation, the State Department of Environmental Conservation and Trout Unlimited, will improve roadside parking, expanding accessibility to trail and river resources, and develop interpretive signs and educational exhibits.

"This Olympic Scenic Byways grant will fund significant improvements to a heavily traveled highway and river corridor expanding recreational opportunities and creating interpretive exhibits, which will inform the public about the wonders of the natural world they are traveling," APA Chairman Ross Whaley said in a news release.

Since 1998, the agency has secured nearly $2.5 million in federal transportation funding for 15 projects benefiting Adirondack Park communities along Route 3 and Route 86 (Olympic Scenic Byway), Route 73 (High Peaks Scenic Byway) and Route 28 (Central Adirondack Trail).

This grant is one of 19 state projects approved by the Federal Highway Administration in 2007, totaling $1,179,416 statewide.

DOT administers the Scenic Byways program in New York.