Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 25, 1995 TAG: 9501250063
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Board of Supervisors asked County Administrator Elmer Hodge on Tuesday to study how the county can best work with a group trying to build a regional greenway system.
Greenways - public walking, hiking and biking trails - usually follow natural corridors such as rivers, but sometimes follow man-made corridors such as abandoned rail lines. The Roanoke River would be a major corridor in the valley for a greenway, because much of its bank already is owned by the public.
A Roanoke Greenways System would be funded through donations, grants and so-called ISTEA money from the federal government, advocates hope.
Greenways typically cost $125 a foot, said Bob Fetzer, a greenway proponent with the nonprofit Valley Beautiful. Fetzer made a presentation to the supervisors Tuesday, urging them to support the concept.
ISTEA, named after the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 that created it, requires states to set aside 10 percent of certain federal transportation funds for alternative transportation projects. Rails-to-trails projects and bike paths are popular projects funded by ISTEA. The grants, however, are allocated only through 1996, and local groups fear the money may disappear under the Republican-controlled Congress.
The Roanoke Valley lags behind some smaller cities in the region, such as Danville and Lynchburg, which already have received ISTEA grants for greenway projects, Fetzer said.
Valley Beautiful is asking each jurisdiction in the valley to set up a commission on greenways, with an umbrella coalition linking them together. A citizens' advisory group would work with the commissions.
Supervisor Bob Johnson suggested that the issue be turned over to the 5th Planning District Commission, an existing agency with staff already in place. That route might speed up the process, he said.
But Supervisor Lee Eddy, a member of the Planning District Commission, said the agency already has a full plate, and because its members from localities outside the valley would not be involved, a new group might be better.
Hodge is to look into the matter and report to the board. Roanoke City Council in November asked City Manager Bob Herbert to do the same thing.
by CNB