February 2012

Key Votes Coming on Changes to Federal Transportation Funding

Submitted by curt on February 10, 2012

Bills being considered in both Houses of Congress include potentially large changes to long standing programs that have been used by States and by local governments to develop and improve bicycling and walking trails and support popular initiatives such as the Safe Routes to School program. You may already be aware that last week the US House of Representatives voted to eliminate funding for bicycle and pedestrian programs. There will be a vote in the Senate in the week of Feb. 13-18, and Maryland Senator Cardin is sponsoring an amendment that could restore much of what's been lost. North Carolina Senator Richard Burr is considered a key vote on this issue. For some specifics please see this Summary of the Cardin Amendment. You can contact Senator Burr via his web site.

 

 

Ecusta Studies Are Finished -- Public Presentation Scheduled

Submitted by curt on February 7, 2012

The planning and economic studies for the proposed Ecusta Trail between Hendersonville and Brevard have been completed and are being reviewed by city staff. A public presentation of the findings has been scheduled for 6 pm on March 28th in Hendersonville. The presentation will include recommendations for trail surface, width, support facilities, detailed maps, prospective trail heads and implementation strategies. Representatives from Henderson and Transylvania County will be there, as well as the media. This is a great opportunity to come show your support. The specific venue for the meeting will be determined after County officials have a better estimate of the numbers expected to attend. If you would like to attend please contact Summit Results.

February 21 Update: County officials were pleased with the interest shown and have reserved the West Henderson High School Auditorium for the presentation. The High School is at 3600 Haywood Road (Hwy 191).

March 31 Update: About 400 interested supporters attended the presentation. See the article about the event at BlueRidgeNow.com NCRT Board member Mike Domonkos attended and notes that NCDENR has indicated that this could be the first NC rail-trail state park or NC state rail-trail. (State park status would require enabling legislation as is the case for all new State Parks. Creation as a state rail- trail would be possible under existing legislation.)

An additional series of Community Presentations is planned for several locations during April and May. In an effort to accommodate as many schedules as possible, these are all "drop in" type events. Several stations will be set up to allow closer access to maps. Knowledgeable folks who have information to share, and any formal presentations will be short and repeat many times over the course of each event:

Thursday, April 26- 5:15 - 7:45pm

Henderson County Public Library, Hendersonville Branch

Tuesday, May 1- 4:00 - 6:00pm

Homestead Small Business Center, Horse Shoe

Thursday, May 3- 4:00 - 8:00pm

Rogow Room at the Transylvania County Library, Brevard

Thursday, May 10- 5:00 - 7:30pm

First Congregational Church, Laurel Park

Saturday, May 19- 9:30am - 12:30pm

Etowah Public Library, Etowah

 

 

 

 

Rail Corridor is the Centerpiece of Large Beltline Project in Atlanta

Submitted by curt on February 4, 2012

From a sidelink on a recent health article we came across information on the Atlanta BeltLine, a very large, multi-year project taking shape in Atlanta. The project will use  a former rail corridor and tie this into more than 33 miles of multi-use trails in a linear park that will connect 40 Atlanta parks, including approximately 700 acres of existing park land. The multi-use trails include the core 22-mile loop plus various extensions to increase connectivity to parks and trails surrounding the BeltLine. The corridor will also include a light rail system. Planning and organizational efforts have been underway for over 7 years and involves most City departments, Atlanta's mass transit authority and numerous community organizations and businesses. The core loop will facilitate both recreation and commuting since it will conect to a number of mass-transit stops. Due the large size of the Atlanta metro area, this project has a scope and complexity far beyond anything we'll see in North Carolina anytime soon. The project is useful as an instructive example of the many benefits that connective trails can provide to an area. The BeltLine website has links discussing economic benefits, community engagement, reducing congestion and of course the healthy outdoors exercise that users will be able to experience on the corridor and in the parks it connects to. Several maps of the proposed loop and its many connections are also on the site.

Deep River Rail-Trail Moving With New Grant, Recycled Bridge

Submitted by curt on February 2, 2012

The town of Franklinville has been awarded a grant of $36,000 from Asheboro's Randolph Hospital Community Health Foundation. Franklinville expects to use $30,000 of the grant to go towards bridging Sandy Creek: some of the funds will go towards a short bridge where the creek is narrow, near Highway 64, and the rest will be put towards a later bridge at the site where the rail line used to cross Sandy Creek. The money will help to connect Franklinville to the neighboring town of Ramseur, which is collaborating with Franklinville on the Deep River Rail-Trail. The remaining $6,000 will help to fund a boat landing on the Deep River. The Randolph Hospital Community Health Foundation funds health and wellness projects that focus on one or more of four areas: nutrition, physical fitness, obesity or substance abuse.

At their recent meeting, Franklinville Mayor Perry Conner noted that he expects to issue a request for proposals (RFP) by the beginning of March for work on Phase 2 of the Deep River Rail-Trail. This work will be funded by a Recreational Trails Program grant. In addition, Franklinville received notice from NCDOT that the town will transfer (on paper) an old bridge in Bladen County to Franklinville in the spring; the bridge itself will probably not arrive until 2013. This bridge, part of NCDOT's Bridge Reuse program, is of a size that could be used to bridge Sandy Creek at the original rail crossing site.