As a father of young children, I think and read about dinosaurs a lot. One of the things I've learned is that no modern land animal was even close to the giant size of Jurassic and Cretaceous sauropods.
I'm excited to share that, like a dinosaur, the East Coast Greenway Alliance is going big. In the last few weeks, we were awarded some of the biggest grants in our organization's history: two $200,000 partnerships with the William Penn Foundation and GSK. This critical support will help us host the first ever Mid-Atlantic Greenways & Trails Summit next spring, commission a report on the Greenway's impact in Greater Philadelphia, and host events throughout our corridor focused on helping people lead more active and healthy lives.
We also helped spur the most U.S. DOT grant applications for the Greenway in an annual program cycle with 11 proposals submitted last month from New England to Florida totaling $100 million. Now it's our job to make the case that investing in the East Coast Greenway should be a priority of the $1.5 billion in overall 2018 BUILD funds. This fall, we can take a giant step forward for our project and for the economic and public health of our nation, especially rural regions throughout the Eastern Seaboard.
While we aren't yet the size of an Argentinosaurus or even a top predator like Tyrannosaurus Rex, perhaps these grants can get us toward that of my youngest son's favorite: the Triceratops.
Here's to a healthy and sustainable future for the eons ahead,
Dennis
Dennis Markatos-Soriano, executive director
Read more of the August 2018 On the Greenway newsletter
