
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 29, 1991                   TAG: 9103290511
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: KIM SUNDERLAND/ NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

HUCKLEBERRY TRAIL PLANNERS ASSIGN TASKS TO COMMITTEES

People Advocating the Huckleberry - PATH - met this week to establish committees and set public touring dates of the proposed bike- and walkway trail.

In the group's second meeting since forming this year, PATH also went over a new map of the trail, which is expected to follow part of the old Virginia Anthracite and Coal rail line - nicknamed the Huckleberry - that linked Christiansburg and Blacksburg.

At the Wednesday meeting, three committees were established to investigate issues related to the trail's development.

The jurisdiction committee will work with property owners - including Virginia Tech, Corning and Norfolk Southern - to establish routes across their lands.

A few of the issues facing the jurisdiction committee include the Virginia Tech airport, which plans to extend a runway that will cut across the old railroad bed where the proposed three-mile, off-road trail would be built.

The committee also will decide how the Trail will cross U.S. 460, as well as how to tie it into nearby recreational facilities at Warm Hearth Retirement Village and the Mid-County Park.

The funding committee will seek money, including government grants and corporate contributions, to develop the trail. It also will oversee its distribution.

The physical committee will oversee details of building the trail, including surveying, clearing and design. It also will be responsible for designing bridges, crossings at Merrimac and Hightop roads, and parking.

Some property owners use parts of the proposed trail for their driveways. This will be addressed by the physical committee. PATH members at a prior meeting said they hope to be able to share the right-of-way with those property owners.

Tours of the Huckleberry Trail are scheduled for April 14 at 2 p.m. and April 18 at 4:30 p.m., weather permitting. They will begin at the entrance to Warm Hearth Village.

The Virginia Tech chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers will lead the excursions. The two-mile hike is expected to take roughly two hours. For more information, call 382-5750.

by CNB