Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, November 14, 1994 TAG: 9411150026
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
At a recent forum at the Virginia Museum of Transportation, a Tennessee landscape architect described how grass-roots efforts spurred greenways development in Chattanooga and Knoxville. New River Valley residents talked about trail-building in Montgomery and Giles.
The potential is just as great or greater in the Roanoke Valley, the forum's organizers insisted.
They're right.
Now a rails-to-trail project has been proposed for Roanoke County. It would run from Salem into the county, along an unused rail route to an abandoned rail spur, then along the spur line to Hanging Rock, site of a Civil War battle won by Confederates.
All manner of positives are wrapped up in this small enterprise. It would honor history. Encourage physical activity. Exploit an unused asset. Boost neighboring property values. Connect valley communities. Help preserve and expose some of our best natural scenery.
Don't lace up the walking shoes quite yet. Supported by small contributions from the county and Salem governments, a newly formed Hanging Rock Battlefield and Railway Preservation Foundation is trying to hitch onto a national trend of converting abandoned railroad rights-of-way into walking trails. The effort will take time, work, resources, ingenuity, patience.
It also will require (1) acquiescence of landowners whose property is crossed by the route for the never-built Valley Railroad in Salem, and (2) a federal grant to help pay for land, a parking area, picnic tables and such to accommodate visitors to Hanging Rock.
Landowners will need assurance that a trail won't prove a nuisance or unduly intrude on their privacy. Money is needed to assure completion of the Hanging Rock portion of the project.
But at least the effort is under way. The foundation, made up of county and Salem representatives and members of historical societies, could prove a trailblazer. The hope is that greenways will also catch on elsewhere in the valley.
To be sure, plans have been drawn before. Talk has been talked for years about trails along the Roanoke River, even about a network of bicycle paths crisscrossing the region. Most such ideas, once floated, have drifted aimlessly with no one to drive them home - even as communities elsewhere have set about starting trails.
The talk now, however, seems more serious. On Tuesday, an ad hoc coalition is convening at Center in the Square to hear presentations on valleywide greenway proposals and potential. Among the scheduled speakers are top planning officials with Roanoke, Salem, Roanoke County and the Fifth Planning District Commission.
Trails and greenways offer the promise, in time, of connecting valley parks and neighborhoods, protecting streams and ridgetops, spreading paths for biking and walking, promoting economic development, and linking the Roanoke and New River valleys.
Unraveling these ribbons and tying them together will require local governments' expertise and involvement. But the push to make it happen must come from citizen support and civic enthusiasm.
by CNB