THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 25, 1997 TAG: 9701250294
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON GLASS
STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 49 lines
Two proposals to create scenic and historic paths for bicyclists, joggers and walkers amid the city's urban landscape will go to public hearing Tuesday before the City Council.
The city plans to seek more than $1.2 million in federal funds to develop the projects. Norfolk has tried without success before to obtain federal dollars for each proposal.
The projects are:
The Elizabeth River trail. The one-mile path would extend from the edge of downtown near Fort Norfolk to Redgate Avenue in West Ghent, most of it following a section of railway abandoned by Norfolk Southern Corp.
The trail would offer ``magnificent views'' of the river, city planners say, and would allow walkers and bikers to safely bypass the Midtown Tunnel and its traffic ramps. Estimated cost is $687,000; the federal funds would pay 80 percent of the cost. Norfolk Southern Corp. would pitch in $125,000, city planners said.
The Attucks Theatre walkway. The project would bring sidewalk improvements, landscaping, lighting and interpretive markers on an approximately half-mile route and take walkers past four historic landmarks along Church Street and Princess Anne Road: the 1919 Attucks Theatre, the 1910 First Calvary Baptist Church, the 1825 Cedar Grove Cemetery and the 1853 Elmwood/West Point Cemetery.
City planners say the project would promote tourism and economic development in a historic section that served as the cultural and commercial hub for African Americans. Estimated cost is $734,854; the federal funds would pay 80 percent, with the rest from local sources.
Norfolk will compete with local governments across Virginia for the funds, which are administered through the state Department of Transportation for projects that encourage transportation that doesn't involve automobiles. The funds come from the federal Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act.
Norfolk must rank the two projects by priority before submitting the proposals, city officials said.
Last year, Norfolk failed to obtain similar funds for the Attucks Theatre project; the Elizabeth River Trail project was denied in 1995. ILLUSTRATION: PUBLIC INPUT
The Norfolk City Council will hold a public hearing at 7:30p.m.
Tuesday on a proposed Elizabeth River trail and a historic walkway
near the Attucks Theatre. The hearing will be held in City Hall, at
810 Union St.