Meetings will plan slow walk along fast track

The folks planning fast-train service between Washington and Charlotte are working on a footpath that would follow the rail corridor.

The proposed Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor includes a hiking trail. State and local agencies in North Carolina and Virginia are holding public meetings in coming weeks to gather local ideas on where the trail -- not the tracks -- should be located.

A description of the trail plan is at the end of this post. More info is available on the SEHSR website.

Here are time and place details on the North Carolina meetings:

- May 7, 2009, 6:30 pm – Warren County
Location: Norlina Volunteer Fire Department Annex Building, 103 Center Street, Norlina, NC 27563

- May 14, 2009, 6:30 pm – Vance County
Location: Aycock Recreation Complex, 307 Carey Chapel Road, Henderson, NC 27537

- May 21, 2009, 7:00 pm – Franklin County
Location: Youngsville Community Center, 115 East Main St, Youngsville, NC 27596

- June 4, 2009, 7:00 pm – Wake County
Location: Wake County Human Services, Northern Regional Center, 350 East Holding Avenue, Wake Forest, NC 27587

For additional information, contact Keith Lewis at 919-829-0328.

Update on Trail Concept (from July 2008):

We are excited to announce the evaluation of a parallel trail concept along the SEHSR project. This is another “first” for this project, and a unique opportunity to provide additional “value added” for all the towns and communities along the corridor.

The initial idea of a trail came from several Virginia communities in 2006. From that beginning almost two years ago we now have funding from each state to include the additional environmental assessments for a multi-use trail/greenway into the ongoing SEHSR project.

The trail concept would be a separate project, parallel to and outside the rail right of way, but within the Southeast High Speed Rail study corridor. As such, all environmental work being collected and analyzed for the rail project would be available for evaluation of the trail concept. That is what makes this such a unique opportunity.

Any construction project that uses public funds must have appropriate environmental documentation approved by the state and federal agencies. Clearing the environmental work at this time for the trail corridor represents a significant cost and time benefit over a piecemeal approach. This would allow trail proponents to apply for state and federal funds for the eventual completion of the trail.

The trail concept runs from just south of Petersburg, Virginia (at Burgess) to the north side of Raleigh at the Neuse River (approximately 116 miles), connecting all the cities and towns along the way. It could become an important link in the East Coast Greenway, a proposed trail that would traverse the eastern seaboard states from Maine to Florida.

The trail location would vary in proximity to the rail right of way, and would also cross from the east side to the west side as needed, using current or proposed grade separations (i.e. there will be no “at-grade” crossings of the trail and the main rail line).

For approximately 76 miles, where the proposed rail improvements will fall within the existing rail right of way, the trail concept is envisioned to be on a 30’ trail cross section on a 60’ right of way, completely outside the rail right of way. The minimum separation (between the tracks and the trail) would be 50-60 feet, and the average should be about 100 feet.

For the remaining 40 miles, where the rail alternatives are expected to go off of the existing rail right of way, the trail would likely use the old, inactive rail right of way.

The trail concept will follow the “preferred” rail alignment. As such, preliminary designs of the trail concept will not begin until after the preferred rail alignment is selected, following completion of the DEIS. Public involvement for the trail will be handled by the resource agencies in both states (VA Department of Conservation and Recreation, and the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources).