ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, October 3, 1996 TAG: 9610030028
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRISTINA NUCKOLS STAFF WRITER
The men and women who have been planning the Hanging Rock Battlefield Trail
for the past two years have more than paper maps and drawings to work with
now.
They have the land needed to turn those plans into a real hiking and biking
trail. Norfolk Southern has donated railroad right of way valued at $160,000
for the project.
Preliminary plans for the first phase of a project to turn the land into a regional trail system will be on display from 4 to 8 p.m. today at the Roanoke County Public Service Center, 1206 Kessler Mill Road, in Salem.
Adjoining property owners and greenway and historic organizations have been specifically invited to attend, but the workshop is open to all Roanoke Valley residents. Representatives of the Hanging Rock Battlefield and Railway Preservation Foundation, Hill Studios, the city of Salem, Roanoke County and the Virginia Department of Transportation will be available to answer questions. Comment sheets will be available for anyone with suggestions for the project.
Organizers are eager to hear suggestions, particularly since the project is a first for the region.
"We are the first greenway in the Roanoke Valley, so we are breaking ground, and our experience is going to be helpful in the whole greenway movement," said Tim Gubala, economic development director for Roanoke County.
Today's workshop covers plans for phase one of what could be a multiphase regional trail system. Phase one is a two-mile stretch running from the Virginia 311/Virginia 419 interchange in Roanoke County to the industrial park on Kessler Mill Road in Salem.
Gubala said the trail will cross more than 30 properties, passing through rural, residential, commercial and industrial areas.
Telebrands, which has a distribution center in the Kessler Mill industrial park, is allowing a portion of its gravel parking lot to be used on that end of the trail.
On the other end, a 12-space gravel parking area is planned on Dutch Oven Road. The lot will be adjacent to the Hinchee store, a former gas station that may be renovated in a later phase of the project.
Two stone monuments, placed near the Civil War battlefield by two separate chapters of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, will be moved to form an entrance to the parking area.
That end of the trail will split off into two spurs, one leading under Virginia 419 to Buzzard's Roost and the other leading to Hanging Rock.
Gubala said he expects sporting equipment rental shops, bed-and-breakfast inns and similar businesses to develop around the interchange, which already has two service stations.
The trail surface will be made with a fine rock material known as cinder, a power plant byproduct once commonly used for high school running tracks. The material is being donated by American Electric Power Co. John Schmidt of Hill Studio, a landscape architect for the project, said the material was chosen because it compacts easily but also allows water to pass through so that it creates less runoff than asphalt.
Phase one will include improvements to a railroad trestle that crosses a stream in Salem. However, plans for a second bridge where the trail crosses Mason Creek near the Orange Market will be delayed. Gubala said alternatives being studied include moving an 1896 single-lane steel bridge from Alleghany County or building a wooden footbridge. In the meantime, stone steps will be built leading to the creek, and stepping stones will allow hikers to walk across as long as the creek is at normal levels.
Once comments are compiled from today's workshop, Schmidt said, work will begin on final designs, which will be turned into construction plans. Bids will be taken this winter so that work can begin in the spring. The first phase is expected to be completed next fall, Gubala said.
The project is being funded by a $549,300 federal grant through the Intermodal Surface Transportation Enhancement Act (ISTEA). Its total cost is estimated at $850,000, but that includes the $160,000 railroad property, other private land, and easement donations that are counted as a local match.
Gubala said the foundation is seeking individuals and organizations willing to donate time or money toward the project. Examples of donations, he said, would include planting trees or paying for benches or signs along the trail.
Organizations that already have expressed interest include Valley Beautiful and the Salem-Roanoke County Chamber of Commerce, Gubala said.
So far, Gubala said, the foundation has spent only about $6,000 for environmental tests that cleared the way for the project to proceed.
The foundation applied for a $562,640 ISTEA grant for the second phase of the trail this year but did not receive it. Gubala said the foundation will try again next year and also may apply for additional grants.
Salem and Roanoke County officials have worked together on the regional project.
"If we didn't have a rapport and some kind of esprit de corps among the leadership and staff, I doubt seriously that this would have happened," Supervisors' Chairman Bob Johnson said.
Catawba District Supervisor Spike Harrison said he's eager to use the trails himself, noting that he uses Green Hill Park, where walkers must trek alongside the road. Harrison said he hopes the trail eventually will tie into the Appalachian Trail, a desire echoed by members of the foundation organizing the project.
Salem Planning Director Joe Yates, a member of the trail foundation's board, said the project should be a benchmark for other greenway projects in the valley.
A lot of people have been talking about greenways, he said. But most residents haven't actually seen one. Once the Hanging Rock trail is complete and valley residents see the results, Yates believes it will speed up the process for other greenway projects.
Staff writer S.D. Harrington contributed to this story.
LENGTH: Long : 104 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: Map by Andrew Svec. color.by CNB