ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, December 12, 1995 TAG: 9512120028
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
THOUGH LATE to enter the field, the Roanoke Valley finally is on the move on the greenways front, and picking up speed.
For its hard work and stalwart commitment, credit goes to a regional steering committee made up of trail supporters and municipal planners, aided by the Fifth Planning District Commission and a hired consultant.
Valley governments deserve credit, too, for supporting the steering committee's work.
This group has held public workshops, visited trails in North Carolina and Tennessee, and drafted a long-range conceptual plan for a valley greenways network. Last week it recommended a pilot project: a trail linking Roanoke City Market and the Blue Ridge Parkway via Mill Mountain.
About the committee's work so far, things to like include:
Its ambitious timetable.
Less than a year has passed since the valley's four governments appointed representatives to serve on the committee, then agreed to share the cost of a specialist to assist the planning effort.
A January, 1996 deadline was set for the first phase of work because that's when federal-grant applications for such projects are due. This week, the committee is briefing local governments. Assuming they give the go-ahead, the application deadline for the pilot phase will be met. That's fast work, quickened by public support as well as by the perseverance of a few.
Good governmental cooperation.
Representatives appointed by Roanoke County, Salem, Roanoke and Vinton serve on the steering committee. That's an achievement in its own right.
Also notable is the apparent recognition that greenways' value is a regional thing. Trails can connect not just parks and public facilities and neighborhoods, along with the people who use them, but also various parts of the valley. Benefits - what greenways can do for image, economy, quality of life - will accrue to all.
That the pilot project would lie, in its initial phase, within Roanoke city limits gives testimony to the big picture with which valley jurisdictions are looking at this initiative.
Wise choice of a demonstration project.
It makes sense that the first leg of a possible greenway network should (1) link popular destinations, (2) be of high-visibility and likely to attract public support, (3) promise to be well-used, (4) include stretches of public land or property otherwise amenable to greenway conversion.
The proposed trail from the historic market area over Mill Mountain to the Blue Ridge Parkway is a winner on all counts. What's more, it wouldn't be an isolated leg. The plan calls for extending the trail, in a second phase, to Explore Park in Roanoke County. There also could be access to a greenway along the Roanoke River, assuming various governments get their acts together sufficiently to develop trails along that natural corridor.
Eventually, these could stretch from Smith Mountain Lake to the New River Valley. To get there from here, however, we need first to get started, then build on success. The greenways committee has made a good beginning.
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