Our History

Eight people meet at a hostel in NYC in November 1991 to establish the East Coast Greenway Alliance. They had met earlier at a bicycling conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Ten cyclists ride a month-long tour of the proposed route from Boston to Washington, D.C., attracting media attention and endorsements from elected officials.

Co-founder Karen Votava becomes the first paid executive director, initially part time. First five segments are designated: Baltimore & Annapolis Trail, Charter Oak Greenway, Coventry Greenway, Delaware & Raritan Canal Trail and Farmington Canal Heritage Trail.

At a spring meeting, board of trustees discuss route choices, working with room-size paper map.

The 10th Anniversary State of the Trail Report, featuring 68 pages of trail updates and descriptions, is published.

Seven cyclists ride entire Greenway from Calais, Maine, to Key West, Florida, in 55 days, becoming our first through-riders.  They raise $75,000 for the East Coast Greenway Alliance.

GQ Magazine publishes feature article by Wil Hylton on his 2005 end-to-end ride with his wife, Jenny.

Sixteen major donors bike from Wilmington, Delaware, to New York City as part of a Close the Gaps Club tour.

After 18 years of leadership, Karen Votava retires as executive director and hands the baton to Dennis Markatos-Soriano.

The Alliance hosted U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin for an evening walk on the Greenway in Durham, North Carolina, joined by 200 participants. A record 42 new Greenway segments were designated across 12 states, totaling more than 50 miles, while the nonprofit FreeWalkers launched a Cross-Jersey Walking Challenge encouraging people to walk 100 miles of the Greenway.

We reach the milestone of 30 percent of the route off-road by designating 36 new Greenway segments totaling 40 miles. Groundbreakings continue on still more segments, like this celebration in Philadelphia with Mayor Nutter at Baxter Trail.

East Coast Greenway reaches 1,000 miles signed and nearly 900 miles on protected, off-road greenway.

In celebration of our organization’s 25th birthday, we hosted the largest program in our history. The East Coast River Relay began in Calais, Maine, and headed south to the Florida Keys, with 57 public events held along the way and 200+ partnerships strengthened.

A banner year of growth, as protected miles climbed to 33% of the route and our staff grew to 12.

The Greenway reached the milestone of 1,000 miles of protected, off-road trails for 35 percent completion. In addition, the Greenway hosted 50 million runs, rides and walks to become the most popular park in America.

Fueled by a record $550 million in public investment toward East Coast Greenway completion, 660 miles of trail signed and continued staff growth, 2021 was a record-setting year for Alliance.

Ultrarunner Shan Riggs brought record media attention to the Greenway by becoming the first-known through-runner of the route. Four federal RAISE grants and $200+ million in funding supported Greenway projects.

We continued to thrive and grow our staff thanks to record-setting support and $200+ million of public investment. Interest in long-distance travel on the Greenway continued to drive record media coverage of the transformational project.

EdMundo Martinez was the first recipient of the Alliance’s Roger Herz Greenway and Active Mobility Award. Our office headquarters relocated to downtown Durham, North Carolina, where you also could find three Olympians training on the local Greenways in preparation for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Despite federal funding cuts, Greenway momentum continued through strong partnerships with leading states, local communities and philanthropic supporters. New segments of the route were celebrated with highly anticipated ribbon cuttings in Philadelphia, New Haven, Richmond, Maryland and Florida.