Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 22, 1995 TAG: 9505230027
SECTION: EDITORIALS PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Not only is the announcement a tribute to those working to develop this hiking and walking path. It also may help spur, or at least encourage, efforts to develop greenways elsewhere in the valley.
Indeed, the Hanging Rock Battlefield Trail is but one of several such projects in Western Virginia that the Commonwealth Transportation Board tentatively endorsed last week. Others with improved prospects for federal assistance were Roanoke (for a railside walkway downtown), Rocky Mount (to fix up its old train station), Montgomery County (to finish a bike path between Blacksburg and Christiansburg), and Pulaski (to extend the New River Trail into Pulaski's downtown).
The money up for grabs flows from the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA), which was designed to promote both local flexibility and the radical notion that transportation projects may occasionally include endeavors other than laying asphalt for highways. The Hanging Rock trail, as such, is a good candidate for funding.
The project's progress also displays signs along the way that, if followed, could help guide greenway efforts valleywide. Among the themes advertised is the need to recognize:
The value of regional cooperation. The Hanging Rock funding request was unquestionably stronger because both Salem and Roanoke County forwarded it. Even leaving finances aside, the goal of creating an expanding network of trails and open-space corridors makes no sense except as a regional initiative.
The varied uses of greenways. The battlefield project, if federally approved, will get ISTEA money not just for a biking and walking path, but for landmark preservation and storm-water control. This is typical of greenways, which tend to serve several purposes simultaneously and cost-effectively - from recreation and transportation to natural buffer and flood abatement.
The opportunity to make use of underdeveloped resources. The Hanging Rock battlefield is a regional asset, for recreation and tourism, that has long been neglected. The same can be said of abandoned railways and scattered, unconnected parks. And of the Roanoke River, a natural corridor for linking Roanoke with underutilized Explore Park.
The potential for connecting places. Salem gets to link up with a Civil War battlefield. Ultimately, greenways could connect neighborhoods with schools, urban areas with parks, the Roanoke Valley with the Roanoke River, and Smith Mountain Lake with New River.
The need for local initiative. ISTEA money is available only to those who go after it, armed with solid plans and community support. The battlefield trail in this respect remains as much an exception as an example in the Roanoke Valley. Too many localities in Virginia, as elsewhere, have failed to envision possibilities other than more and wider highways, or have been slow to develop plans and proposals for greenways. Never mind ISTEA: There'll be no happy trails in any case without citizen involvement, effective leadership, regional cooperation - and the gumption to move ahead.
A new and promising greenways committee looks to craft a Roanoke Valley plan by fall. Its members should be heartened by the Hanging Rock news. Lucy Ellett, who heads the committee, said last week: "Once the public sees and understands from personal experience what we mean by a greenway, I think there will be even more public support." We think she's right.
by CNB