A mile or two at a time, South Hampton Roads’ cities are building a recreational trail that could one day connect downtown Suffolk with Virginia Beach’s Oceanfront.
The plan is more than a decade old and still too many years from completion. But by next fall, 5.3 miles on the western part of the 41-mile path are expected to be finished.
Today, as the nation begins a monthlong celebration of biking (find local activities at http://ift.tt/1JG1qrY) the region’s recreation lovers have reason for optimism.
Suffolk plans by July to complete conversion of 2.3 miles of the old Seaboard rail corridor between the village of Driver and Shoulders Hill Road. Then the city will concentrate on the next mile, to Town Point Road at the Chesapeake line.
Each city is working on its own leg of the South Hampton Roads Trail, as well as other multi-use paths that encourage residents and tourists to explore a mile – or five or 10 – by bike, on skates or on foot.
The goal, as other regions have shown, is not just recreation but efficient travel options and creation of communities where people can live, work and play.
Portsmouth is building 1.8 miles along the Seaboard corridor.
The South Hampton Roads Trail’s sections in Norfolk and Virginia Beach – a combined 16.2 miles – are still in the works.
Norfolk’s efforts are constrained because there’s so little empty property. Still, the city is in the midst of figuring out how best to fit bicyclists into the city’s neighborhoods and commuting patterns.
With the city’s budgetary emphasis on making streets safer for bicyclists, pedestrians and drivers, it’s clear that Norfolk intends to make its streets more welcoming, especially for folks on two wheels.
In Virginia Beach, officials are considering a 3-mile path beside the light-rail line proposed along the Norfolk Southern right of way through Town Center.
Hampton Roads Transit has estimated the project, including lanes on each side of the tracks and spans over Witchduck Road and Independence Boulevard, would cost about $17 million to build.
The city also plans to link the Thalia Creek Greenway in Pembroke and Town Center with Mount Trashmore.
Virginia Beach is working to become a “bicycle-friendly” city, a designation awarded when an area has completed trails and bike lanes that make getting around safer.
The Beach’s comprehensive plan makes multi-use paths a priority; city leaders have said they want to appeal to the millennial generation, who are more likely to prefer commuting by foot or bike to driving.
Archinect, an online resource for architects and designers, wrote last year: “As trends show workers moving into U.S. cities (rather than out into suburbs), and businesses catering to a younger workforce that relies less on cars, cycling infrastructure has become integral to strengthening local businesses and encouraging long-term economic growth for the entire city.
“A lot of what delays cycling infrastructure is the presumption that it only benefits cyclists. It can be hard to justify to citizens who don’t cycle that bike lanes and bike-share programs will benefit the city at large, and not just the ‘cyclist’ demographic. But cities have begun to take notice of the positive change that cycling infrastructure can help bring to their local businesses, in very concrete ways.”
The East Coast Greenway, nearly 30 percent complete, will span 2,900 miles between Maine and Florida, including 400 miles in Virginia, to accommodate walkers, cyclists, skaters, cross-country skiers, wheelchair users and equestrians. The Dismal Swamp Canal Trail will be part of it, and will eventually link South Mills, N.C., with Deep Creek in Chesapeake, 20 miles north.
Virginia’s trail system also includes the James River Heritage Trail and the Beaches to Bluegrass Trail between the Oceanfront and Cumberland Gap.
A 2010 case study in Baltimore showed that “pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure projects created approximately 11 to 14 jobs per $1 million of spending, whereas road infrastructure projects created approximately 7 jobs per $1 million of spending.”
That’s a strong argument for investment in bike and pedestrian trails, no matter how you move.
Source: http://ift.tt/1AqbuNi
from critical infrastructure alliance http://ift.tt/1dBrgQo
via IFTTT
No comments:
Post a Comment