Regional News: October 2016

Jerry Klima of the Massachusetts based Coastal Trails Coalition presents to New Hampshire coastal town representatives. Photo by Scott Bogle, NH East Coast Greenway Committee Chair

New England

Maine: The Eastern Trail Alliance is working hard to close a 1.6 mile gap in Scarborough, Maine, which will also become a part of the East Coast Greenway. Once completed, there will be 16 off-road miles connecting Saco to South Portland. The ETA has a fundraising campaign to “Close the Gap” which has reached 80% of its goal! Read more and donate here.

New Hampshire: On Saturday, October 22, the New Hampshire Seacoast Greenway (which serves as the ECG New Hampshire state committee) hosted a fall trail event which was attended by 28 trail volunteers and corridor community staff, planning, and select board members. Topics included a status update of the negotiations between NH Department of Transportation and Pan Am Railways to purchase the remaining 9.7 mile Hampton Branch corridor which will connect the ECG from Hampton to Portsmouth and a presentation on how trails serve as a catalyst for regional economic development in the region.

Scott Bogle, ECGA NH Chair and Senior Transportation Planner at the Rockingham Planning Commission, says he's feeling optimistic that the presentations helped local officials see the broad range of benefits that the trail can provide. That will help as they continue the work of developing local trail management agreements with NHDOT and refine plans for trail construction. The latest word on the NHDOT/Pan Am negotiation is that NHDOT has hired another third party appraiser, specializing in rail corridors, and that a report should be available in 60-90 days. We're hopeful this will result in an appraisal value acceptable to both parties, and a sale can be concluded in early 2017.

Connecticut: The Town of Simsbury received $305,000 for trail construction for Phase I of the Tariffville Connector Trail. This project was funded by Connecticut Recreational Trails Program through the Connecticut Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection. The 10’ wide, multi-use trail will run from the Farmington Canal Heritage trail at Route 315 in Simsbury, 0.6 miles to Curtiss and Patterson Parks. This is part of the major Hartford Connector for the East Coast Greenway, which will eventually connect to an existing project of almost two miles along the Griffin Line Corridor in Bloomfield. Construction is expected to begin in 2017.

The ECGA and Farmington Valley Trails Council talked up the Plainville gap closure project last weekend at the Plainville Pumpkin Festival. It was a cold day, but many members of the public and local officals attended the event. Read more about the gap closure project.

Regional Media: BTA/BOLT Working to Connect Rail and Bay Circuit Trails | Wayland Rail Trail Construction Starting Soon | Bicycle and Pedestrian Friendly Policies are Good as Far as they Go | Mattapoisett Bike Path

Mid-Atlantic

Delaware: The final phase of the New Castle Industrial Track Trail will soon be under construction! Delaware’s Department of Transportation and Department of Natural Resources are hosting a groundbreaking ceremony on November 2 at 2 PM at the DuPont Environmental Education Center, 1400 Delmarva Lane in Wilmington, Delaware. Just over a mile long, this section will complete the final phase of the 6-mile New Castle Industrial Track Trail, a critical segment of the 3,000-mile ECG. When complete, the trail will connect with the Wilmington Riverwalk to provide a walking and bicycling connection between downtown Wilmington and Old New Castle and the Delaware Riverfront. The project has been called the "crown jewel" of Delaware's trail network.

DC/Maryland: Celebrate the opening of the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens section of the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail! The District Department of Transportation is holding a ribbon cutting ceremony on Monday, October 31 at 10 AM at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, 1150 Anacostia Ave. NE in Washington, DC.  The 9.5 mile Anacostia Riverwalk Trail now links Hyattsville, MD, to Washington, DC, and is part of the ECG’s complementary route in DC and Maryland.

Regional Media: Christina Bike Bridge to Open Unused Pathways | Latest Claymont Redevelopment Plans Released | Freewalkers and Union Co. Parks Host 'Stroll & Roll' Nov. 6

South Atlantic

North and South Carolina: New signage is  in place in two key areas in the Carolinas! We recently placed on-road ECG wayfinding signs on 17 miles of ECG in Cumberland County, North Carolina, from the county line to downtown Fayetteville. Special thanks to Eric Vitale, Cumberland County transportation planner for assisting ECGA staff during installation. Ten miles of Myrtle Beach’s ECG route was signed in early October. Special thanks to Kelly Mezzapelle, planner for the City of Myrtle Beach and local volunteers for signing the route. Myrtle Beach recently became the first city along the ECG to complete its entire off-road route.

Virginia: Planning is underway to extend the ECG’s coastal route in Virginia. The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), in partnership with Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization and consultants Michael Baker, is leading a study to extend the Virginia Capital Trail, the 52-mile, multi-use trail from Richmond to Jamestown, which is part of the ECG’s coastal route. On September 27th, the newly formed Paths Connecting to Virginia Capital Trail Committee met to discuss two 30-mile off-road alignments: one leading to Hampton Roads along the peninsula and the other leading to Suffolk via the Jamestown Ferry, which is a part of the envisioned ECG historic coastal route. The committee has requested public input, and the next meeting is planned for mid-November. Read more here.

Regional Media: Myrtle Beach First to Complete its Section of Park, Path from Maine to Florida | Apex Hopes to More than Double Greenway Mileage by 2020 | Save RDU Forests

Southeast Georgia: The 7th annual Georgia Bike Summit was held on Jekyll Island on Oct. 21-23. An ECG-focused workshop included speakers Dr. Herman Blake, Executive Director, Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission and ECGA Advisory Board member; Atiba Mbiwan, Associate Director of The Zeist Foundation and ECGA Advisory Board member; and Jo Claire Hickson, Executive Director, Coastal Georgia Greenway and ECGA National Greenway Council member. The workshop was multi-faceted and focused not only on greenway development, but also the unique combination of placemaking, health advocacy, conservation, green mobility and tourism, along with cultural retention and economic development, that is possible when diverse organizations and programs work together to achieve ambitious goals.

Florida: Great news for the ECG in Florida - the state recently announced the projects it will be funding this fiscal year (2016 - 2017) through the SUN Trails program. A total of $44,434,543 million was awarded to 45 projects located throughout Florida, and several ECG projects received significant support. The map below shows the location of all SUN Trail funded projects. ECG projects include $2.675 million allocated to ECG spine route in St. Lucie and Miami-Dade counties and more than $13 million for the St. John's River to Sea Loop (ECG spine and complementary route). Funds will be used for construction costs, feasibility studies, project development / environmental studies and preliminary engineering.