The vision and leadership of Delaware Governor Jack Markell and the state's senior transportation officials continues to pay off for the citizens of their state.
Great rail-trail news out of southern Virginia with a once overgrown and unused (below) section of rail corridor opened this week as a new section of the Tobacco Heritage Trail.
Inspired by the great success of its more famous rail-trails, such as the Minuteman and Shining Sea bikeways, and Cape Cod, Manhan, Nashua River and Norwottuck rail-trails, the state of Massachusetts is looking to further extend its network of non-motorized pathways.
The Star Democrat wrote this week that Gov. Martin O'Malley had approved funding for the Easton Rail Spur Line project that will connect to the existing Easton Rail-Trail and extend the network another 2.3 miles.
In rural Idaho, Friends of the Weiser River Trail (FWRT) has been able to build and maintain an 85-mile rail-trail with no significant municipal or county backing. FWRT did all of the hard work themselves, encountering opposition from both county governments and private property owners along the way, several of whom filed lawsuits against the friends group.
The residents and businesspeople of Saugus, close to the Massachusetts coastline, are celebrating today with the long-awaited beginning of work on their section of the Northern Strand Community Trail.
The times are a'changing in Texas. In centers like Denton, San Antonio, Austin, Houston and Fort Worth, planners are recognizing the importance of bike (and pedestrian) infrastructure, and as a result, ridership and bike-inspired initiatives are on the up.
One of the great stories in Community Built features Friends of the Northern Rail Trail in rural New Hampshire. Now the longest rail-trail in the state, the corridor follows the right-of-way of the former Northern Railroad, which discontinued service in 1970. It is currently 49 miles long and will eventually cover 57.5 miles when completed.
Yesterday RTC hosted the first of two webinars exploring the nuts and bolts of this legislation, MAP-21, and offering advice for local practitioners on how to encourage their state to make good use of the limited pot of funds available for trails, biking and walking.
The report, Transportation and the New Generation: Why Young People are Driving Less and What it Means for Transportation Policy, shows that young people in particular are decreasing the amount they drive and increasing their use of transportation alternatives.
