Our infrastructure is crumbling and we’re wasting resources on this?
“And to add a bit of a challenge, some of the rail miles will be active,” they did not go on to say.
“...which will connect more than 125 existing trails and 90 trail gaps over 3,700 miles between Washington, D.C., and Washington State. “
For me that’s too far for walking or biking...they should put in some sort of mass transit.
Interestingly, existing designated bike trails include an East-West transcontinental route that is complete except for CO and CA. (The trail stops at those states’ borders, but does make it across Utah and Nevada.) It must be the mountains, but, it still seems odd the trail does not make it from the KS - CO border to Denver, for example.
https://www.adventurecycling.org/routes-and-maps/us-bicycle-route-system/maps-and-route-resources/
Part of an old railroad bed passes through my property, its been converted to a snowmobile trail, and the local snowmobile clubs keep it clear.
From their FAQ:
“With the completion of the route assessment, RTC is working with state and local partners across the preferred route to determine the costs associated with trail development. Projected trail development costs will provide the detail necessary to advocate for the federal, state and local funds and private investment that will be critical to completing the trail gaps along the route.
Based on RTC’s experiences completing regional trail networks across the country, we expect that a combination of federal funds dedicated to trail building, as well as state and local funds and private investment, will be critical to complete the trail gaps along the route. RTC actively advocates for federal and state programs used to support trail, walking and biking projects across the country, and will continue to do so.”
So yeah...they expect taxpayer funding in addition to any donations.
Not one dime of federal highway money should go to this non-essential project.
There are thousands of miles of unused railways out there and it's an excellent idea to pave stretches of it over and give people a safe place to experience nature away from the noise and traffic of city streets.
Most of us live in a concrete jungle and it's nice to go to a place where you can ride your bike, walk your dog or just stroll for a few miles without having to dodge automobile traffic and cross busy intersections. Not to mention all the noise that goes with it.
Then out in the suburbs, you don't have sidewalks in most neighborhoods. People have to take their cars to drive to a store that might be just a few blocks away but don't want to walk out in the street to get there. No wonder our biggest social problem is obesity (and all the disease that goes with it).
This is not a "liberal" thing at all. Or it shouldn't be.
How about fixing the POTHOLES in our existing highways and our crumbling bridges and dams?
Besides, we already HAVE a well-trod ‘trail’ from Central American right up to and THROUGH our border!
‘Hikers’ can start heading south, using that!
They started by raising money to build trails, and turned it into raising money to hire attorney/lobbyists to make us build the trails for them, as well as taking land away from folks who don’t want to give their land up.
Will there be rape trees?
A lot of the right of ways are prime undisturbed bird habitat precisely because they are untraveled and unkempt, they can nest in peace where the would otherwise be disrupted by the curious in a park.
“it will take decades to complete”. I dont have decades to wait so I’ll continue to use and enjoy Rails to Trails that are complete. My favorite is the New River Trail in SW Virginia. It runs between Galax, VA and Pulaski, VA. It’s a VA State Park. Around 58 miles of trail running along the New River, absolutely stunning.
Public funds continue to be poured into our national, state and city parks and rightfully so. I’m not a liberal nor a tree hugger but I have spent countless hours in state and national parks that help adjust my attitude so I can stay sane in a world run amok by liberals and SJWs. I also get the same attitude adjustment at a gun range.
The is a rather large rail to trail in my area and it runs thru my township. This one is the Delaware and Lehigh (D&L) Trail. It consists of two historic canals (the Delaware Canal and the Lehigh Canal) and a few abandoned railroad beds. Two separate sections are state parks, the Lehigh Gorge and the Delaware Canal state parks. The entire trail which is at this point 140 miles long is under the supervision of the D&L National Heritage Corridor.
I use the trail often and it runs thru some of the most scenic areas of eastern Pennsylvania. That said it is also a money pit. The D&L organization makes all kinds of promises and takes a lot of credit for the work of others.
There are several big gaps in the trail and roughly 15 miles (5 at the beginning and 10 at the end) that the ultimate route hasn’t been determined. There are a few gaps that exist due to major road/bridge projects that will not be finished for another 4 or 5 years. That is of course not the fault of anyone except PennDOT. But what really bugs me is a newly built bridge in Jim Thorpe PA that will one day close arguably the most difficult gap on the entire trail.
The bridge, which cost over 3 million dollars was completed last June and dedicated during the last of the RTC sojurnes (The RCT is the organization that released the article in the OP). People pay over $1000 each to ride in the sojurnes they got to use the bridge, it was opened for 3 hours then closed since then 11 months ago. They are “working” on a 1.1 million dollar connector trail, 3/4 miles long to connect the bridge to the existing Lehigh Canal. The date to finish the connector keeps getting pushed back, currently its June 30 but there is about a 1 percent chance the work will be done by June 30.
When it is all said and done the bridge and connectors will end up costing over 5 million dollars. The bridge if it opens this year will be over 3 years behind schedule and 2 million over budget. The Heritage corridor has been telling business for years to start expecting armies of bicyclist with tons of money to spend but none of this will happened until the bridge opens. Even when it opens the trail route on the west side of the river will travel almost a mile right down the center of a very busy parking lot. It will not be given it’s own safe route until the end of 2021 at the earliest.
There are other big money projects on the D&L, for example a tunnel was just opened this week that takes the trail under active rail lines in just north of Philly. This tunnel took a year to build, not sure of the cost but probably several million dollars, prolly about 3 million.
The trail is nice and has a purpose but the cost is way too much for what we can expect to benefit from. The Heritage Corridor organization is expert at spending other peoples money and is also very good at not being totally honest when it comes to project completion dates.
well this may not be good for me!! My annual trip to asia flying out of Chicago is about $500 cheaper than flying out of Detroit. Currently Amtrak price one way from Detroit to Chicago is $35... $70 rnd trip. If this plan goes thru, I predict my train cheat will probably quadruple in price! :/
I actually like the idea as a walker
One near Damascus VA is a great one
The state of Washington wanted to convert a rail line to a trail until the land owner pointed out that eminent domain contract stated that if the rail line was abandoned as a rail line, the property would revert back to the land owner.
Another great rail trail in Durham NC if you are faster than the muggers https://www.wral.com/residents-question-safety-of-american-tobacco-trail-after-series-of-crimes-/16778473/
And I care, WHY?