October 2010
Rail-Trail Corridor in Marion Finally Acquired
After years of negotiations with Norfolk Southern, City officials in Marion recenly announced the old Peavine railroad corridor is now City property. The tracks were removed in 2007. The City is making arrangements to designate some parking spaces for trail users and expects to open the trail for walking and cycling in the next few weeks. For more on the Peavine please see the article in the McDowell News.
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Possible Extensions for Atlantic and Yadkin Greenway
In late August, the Metropolitan Planning Organization for the Greensboro metro area unanimously agreed to extend the Atlantic & Yadkin Greenway from its current end at U.S. 220 in Summerfield northwest across the county through Stokesdale. The new pact says the governments of Greensboro, Guilford County, Summerfield and Stokesdale will cooperate on a feasibility study of the extension in partnership with State environmental officials and such nonprofit groups as the Piedmont Land Conservancy and the Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail. Planners are starting from scratch with only a general idea that the greenway should follow — where possible — the course of the former Atlantic & Yadkin rail line to Stokesdale, said Peggy Holland, coordinator of Greensboro’s bicycle and pedestrian program. Beyond that, the “A&Y” could go north to Rockingham County or west to Forsyth County, Holland said. It might also include spurs for mountain biking and horseback riding. “That’s the sort of thing we’ll consider in the feasibility study,” she said, adding the first step likely will be public meetings to gather comments. For a small map depicting the possible route and further details please see the 8/26 article in the Greensboro newsrecord.com. Click here for a larger map in PDF format
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Federal Fund Recissions Point to Large Cuts In Transportation Enhancement Funds in North Carolina
In August the Rails to Trails Conservancy reported on an intended move by the Federal government to rescind (i.e. pull back and not spend) the use of some $2.2 billion of unspent transportation funds. They now report that these recissions are in fact happening. In North Carolina it appears that the State has proposed a disproportionately large reduction to funds associated with Transportation Enhancement (TE). While TE funds represented about 2.4% of North Carolina's total transportation allocation, the State has proposed cutting TE funds some 31.7% as part of their recission. TE funds are the nation’s largest funding source for trails, both walking and bicycling and have been used for rail corridor preservation and numerous rail-trail projects over the years. If you believe these cuts to North Carolina's TE program are not what you want our State to carry out, please feel free to contact Governor Perdue and Transportation Secretary Gene Conti. Some suggestions on what you might want to say are contained in a recent RTC Alert .
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