Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 17, 1994 TAG: 9411170094
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: ROBERT FREIS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Instead of being used to build the five-mile hiking and biking trail, the money has gone to mandated expenses such as archaeological surveys and modifications to the pathway for handicapped users.
Tuesday, trail organizers acknowledged that the federal grant won't be enough to finish the project, and agreed to seek supplemental funding.
Organizers won't decide until next week how much more money to request, but Bill Ellenbogen, president of Friends of the Huckleberry, said it could be as high as $200,000.
The additional money would be sought from the same source as the initial grant, federal transportation funds funneled through the VIrginia Department of Transportation.
In order to be eligible for the grant, project organizers have to assure at least a 20 percent match from locally generated funds.
"Where it's going to come from, I don't know," Ellenbogen said of the local money.
Private sources and local governments will have to be tapped right away to meet the grant application deadline of Jan. 31,1995, he said.
Estimates were that the trail, generally designed to run along an abandoned railway between Blacksburg and the New River Valley Mall, would be finished by the end of this year.
However, 1994 has been characterized by a series of bureaucratic hurdles and unexpected expenses that have delayed the start of construction indefinitely.
Federal mandates dominated a meeting Tuesday of People Advocating the Huckleberry.
Committee members heard that prehistoric archeological sites identified along the trail probably won't require costly major site changes or pathway revisions after all.
However, they learned five locations along the way will have to be modified to comply with guidelines established by the Americans with Disabilities Act. The sites are either too steep or curves are too tight for wheelchair users, the government says.
Other unexpected expenses not federally mandated include treadway improvements for emergency vehicle access along the trail, and costs for a tunnel beneath a road on Virginia Tech agricultural lands.
Project changes increase engineering costs, and overall construction expenses have also gone up since the grant application was made about 18 months ago, committee members said.
"I'm certain we're going to need more money," Ellenbogen said.
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