In 2022, there were 53 rail-trails in Virginia with 463 miles of trail, plus 10 more projects that could add 118 more miles. Source: Virginia Department of Transportation, Eastern Shore Rail to Trail Study, Interactive Map of Project Area 7Ĭonversion of the Bay Coast Railroad into a hiking/biking trail will stretch for 49 miles In 2023, the US Department of Transportation awarded a $23 million Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant to the Accomack-Northampton Planning District Commission, to fund paving a 10-foot wide trail for nearly 17 miles between the towns of Nassawadox and Olney. It has great potential to attract new tourists, hikers, and other outdoor enthusiasts as well as improve the quality of life of everyone living on the Eastern Shore. People can come and stay in one town and cycle to the next couple of towns to make stops, creating new retail, restaurants, and other attractions. After the railroad officially requested the track be "rail-banked" to allow for the trail, the executive director of the Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce highlighted the economic development that could come from a new tourist attraction: 6 5Īt the time, demographers predicted the population of the Eastern Shore would decline by 20% over the next decade. The 40-foot wide right of way crossed flat ground, making it especially suitable for recreational biking. Accomack and Northampton counties could find new Class III shortline railroads to restore service on a portion of the track, but a 49-mile stretch between Cape Charles and Hallwood were abandoned. In 2019, the Bay Coast Railroad ceased operations on the Eastern Shore. Source: Accomack-Northampton County Planning District Commission, Southern Tip Phases III and IV Preliminary Engineering Report and Feasibility Study (Figure 4) 4Ī tie from the New York, Philadelphia and Norfolk Railroad branch line to Kiptopeke still remains on the right-of-way Two more phases were planned to complete a fully-accessible, paved route linking to Cape Charles. The first phases of the Southern Tip Bike & Hike Trail were completed in 20, using the abandoned rail route. The 2004 Eastern Shore Bicycle Plan proposed creating a bicycle trail from Cape Charles to the Eastern Shore National Wildlife Refuge. The New York, Philadelphia and Norfolk Railroad closed the branch line between Cape Charles and Kiptopeke in 1972. Source: US Geological Survey (USGS), Snowden VA 1:24,000 topographic quadrangle (2019) The Appalachian Trail now uses the old railroad piers for the James River Foot Bridge, named after Bill Foot Source: US Geological Survey (USGS), Lexington VA 1:125,000 topographic quadrangle (1894) The Richmond and Alleghany Railroad built the original bridge over the James River and started using it in 1881 The name is not a typo it honors Bill Foot, who died just before the new pedestrian bridge was completed. The "James River Foot Bridge" became the official route of the Appalachian Trail in 2000. It took another $1.5 million and about a decade to build a new bridge, including the addition of new concrete on top of the piers to raise them 10 feet higher above floodwater level. They tracked down the owner, who used the piers to tie up a houseboat, and the Appalachian Trail Club purchased the piers for $1. An enthusiastic hiking couple, Bill and Laurie Foot, figured out that the Appalachian Trail could be re-routed away from the busy US 501 bridge if a new pedestrian bridge was constructed on the old piers. When a new bridge was built in 1954 to reduce a curve in the track, the railroad removed its old bridge and sold the piers. The Appalachian Trail crosses the James River on a bridge that uses the piers of an abandoned Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Railroad bridge, upstream at Snowden Dam (Cushaw Hydroelectric Project). When the Norfolk Southern ceased hauling coal along the Guest River in 1988, it donated the right-of-way and the George Washington National Forest created the Guest River Gorge Trail. The first rails-to-trails project was completed in Wisconsin in 1968, the Elroy-Sparta State Trail. Otherwise, in many cases the railroad's easement is extinguished when the railroad abandons track and private landowners regain all property rights. The conversion preserves the public right to cross private land, using the right-of-way acquired by the railroad. Some former railroads that have been abandoned have been converted into rails-to-trails projects. Source: Virginia Department of Rails and Public Transportation (DRPT), State Trail Advisory Committee Meeting (October 21, 2021) Rails to Trails in Virginia Rails to Trails in Virginiaīy 2021, there were 19 rail-to-trails projects in Virginia with segments open for public use
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