“Stitching Together a 3,000-Mile Trail Network: The East Coast Greenway”
The East Coast Greenway Is Stitching Together a 3,000-Mile Trail Network
Summary :
A 3,000-mile network of biking and walking trails, the East Coast Greenway, is being developed to connect existing and new trails to create a seamless coastal trail along the East Coast from Maine to Florida. The Greenway aims to improve safety for cyclists and pedestrians, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and provide public health and economic benefits to the communities it passes through. The East Coast Greenway Alliance, a nonprofit, is helping communities secure funding to fund land acquisition and trail construction while addressing concerns about gentrification and displacement by maintaining affordable housing along the trails.
Description :
The ever-evolving greenway connects biking and walking trails from Maine to Florida.
A biking and walking trail network spanning 3,000 miles is being established along the East Coast, with communities already observing benefits. The East Coast Greenway, which has been under development since 1991, is being linked together by existing and new trails, offering a continuous coastal trail, as Ashira Morris highlights in Reasons to be Cheerful.
Greenways, as Morris points out, are a simple low-tech solution to complex issues, which can enhance safety for pedestrians and cyclists, reduce greenhouse gas emissions while providing public health benefits and economic advantages. “The paths that have been built along the East Coast Greenway have already transformed many former industrial areas and abandoned railway tracks into community hubs,” she adds.
The nonprofit East Coast Greenway Alliance is leading the effort and is working to help communities along the pathway obtain funding for land acquisition and trail development from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and other sources.
To address gentrification and displacement concerns, the Alliance team and the Pennsylvania Environmental Council has devised an inclusionary trail planning toolkit that outlines best practices for meeting community requirements, including enabling affordable housing along the trail.
sources:
1- melk360.com ,The East Coast Greenway Is Stitching Together a 3,000-Mile Trail Network ,2023-04-18 12:00:00
2- https://www.planetizen.com/news/2023/04/122668-east-coast-greenway-stitching-together-3000-mile-trail-network?rand=493
