Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, February 22, 1991                   TAG: 9102220421
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: KIM SUNDERLAND NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

ORGANIZATION TAKES FIRST STEPS IN BUILDING BIKE-AND-HIKE TRAIL

Mark Cates, a Corning engineering manager, was elected PATH chairman and Bill Ellenbogen, owner of Bogen's restaurant in Blacksburg, was elected vice chairman.

"It surprised me!" Cates said. "I went to the meeting as a neutral party so I'm not really walking in with any preconceived ideas."

But Cates does have some plans and, as part of PATH, he and the other members found out they face quite a few obstacles in making the off-road trail a reality.

"I'm concerned with timing," Cates said of the group's resolution to have a five-year completion plan. "I like to move faster. Hopefully, we can."

In general, Cates said Corning is highly supportive of the Huckleberry project.

And he said his first plan at PATH's next meeting is to get a better definition of the goals and the proposed route.

Currently, the 3-mile bikeway and walkway will follow part of the old Anthracite and Coal railroad, nicknamed the Huckleberry because the train moved so slow riders could jump off, pick huckleberries and jump back on. This path linked Blacksburg with the Merrimac Lines to the Norfolk and Western at Cambria.

The idea is part of a national effort called the "Rails to Trails" program, said Susan Swain, a county planner who is handling the mailings and staffing for PATH.

But each project has unique problems. Those facing PATH include missing bridges, heavily traveled roads that have to be crossed, overgrown vegetation and residents sharing county right-of-ways for driveways.

The Virginia Tech chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers has been surveying the existing trail and made a report on these obstacles at the Wednesday meeting.

Another report came unexpectedly from J.C. Garrett, a Blacksburg resident and retired Tech professor, who has been interested in seeing the Huckleberry made into a bikers-and-hikers trail since 1965.

Garrett, an environmental activist, said he would like to see a survey done on the natural conditions in the area.

"I think we have to protect the natural setting of the trail," he said. "It's a big part of why it's so important."

Probably the biggest long-term problem is connecting Blacksburg and Christiansburg with the Huckleberry, but "there's gotta be a way," said Ellenbogen.

"I feel there is a good possibility, with some political work, to extend the trail," said Ellenbogen, a Blacksburg bikeway committee member. "We need to resolve the political and physical problems, then acquire the needed funding."

A group hiking trip along the trail is being planned. Although PATH is limited to its 10 members, Swain said, the public may attend meetings, be placed on agendas and on the mailing list.

Call Swain at 382-5750 for details. The next meeting is scheduled for 4 p.m. March 27 at a location to be announced.