Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 22, 1994 TAG: 9404220174
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-11 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By ROBERT FREIS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
After a unexpected - and frustrating - six-month delay, local organizers have the go-ahead to begin work on the six-mile bike path between Blacksburg and Christiansburg.
If all goes well, construction should begin in about three months, according to Bill Ellenbogen, president of Friends of the Huckleberry.
"People could be riding on the trail by next summer," he said.
The Huckleberry Trail was one of 37 Virginia projects awarded federal funds last October by the Virginia Department of Transportation.
But the $453,242 promised to the trail was delayed while state and federal officials wrangled over language in the funding contract.
Those officials readily accepted blame for the hold-up, which they said was created by efforts to administer a new program.
The delay blunted the momentum of local organizers. However, with all contract squabbles finally resolved, Ellenbogen said the project is ready to move ahead.
"After five years in the works, we're close to seeing the first pavement laid. That's exciting," he added.
On Wednesday the PATH Committee - a group established to oversee the Huckleberry Trail's establishment - took the first step to spend the federal money by agreeing to hire Anderson & Associates, a Blacksburg engineering firm.
Ellenbogen said the $42,000 contract is for design of several bridges, including a span over the Norfolk Southern tracks near Merrimac, and for assistance with land acquisition.
The contract is subject to approval by the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors, which has been designated as the financial agent for the Huckleberry Trail project.
When completed, the Huckleberry Trail will be a pedestrian and bike path connecting the Blacksburg Library and the New River Valley Mall.
The trail's route will follow the right-of-way of an abandoned rail spur used for the first half of this century primarily to haul coal and passengers.
With the funding issues finally resolved, PATH members have begun to look farther down the trail.
At Wednesday's meeting they discussed extending the Huckleberry Trail's route to downtown Christiansburg and beyond.
Someday the trail could be connected to the New River Trail State Park, a 57-mile bike path that connects Pulaski and Galax, and to the Virginia Creeper Trail, which connects Abingdon and Moun. Rogers, Ellenbogen said.
"If you want to have a real economic development impact, you need more than a six-mile trail," he said.
The PATH Committee also elected Lance Matheson as its new chairman. He replaces Mark Cates, who resigned after being transferred out of the area.
by CNB