Welcome, and thank you for participating! Please introduce yourself and your trail project by hitting "reply" above - let's get to know each other a little better.
Please also take a second to answer our poll question - then be sure to explore all that RTC's Forums have to offer by posting your own questions and experience. Don't forget to utilize all of the other resources of the Urban Pathways Initiative.
Happy trails,
Stephen MillerUrban Pathways CoordinatorRails-to-Trails Conservancyhttp://www.railstotrails.org/urbanpathways
The forums are new - if you encounter any bugs, please let me know - stephen (at) railstotrails.org. Thanks!
Thank you for the opportunity to join the discussion. I live in the Tysons Corner area of Fairfax County in northern Virginia. I am a representative on the county Transportation Advisory Commission which provides citizen guidance to the county Board of Supervisors. I have also spearheaded an effort to create a network of multi-purpose trails connecting various local parks , neighborhoods and amenities including Wolf Trap National Park for the performing arts, the W&OD Trail, Meadowlark Botanical Garden. I will be involved in a process to connect the local community to the new Metro stations being constructed in Tysons Corner and welcome any advice we can get from others around the country who have experience in urban trail planning.
Hello urban trail members! My name is Greg Bakos and I am a transportation engineer practicing in northern New England. I have been involved with bike/ped planning and design for over 20 years and have been employed by VHB, Inc since 1983. I am privileged to be involved with several trail groups and have active planning and design projects in NH and VT, the longest of which is the 93 mile Lamoille Valley Rail Trail that crosses northern VT. My most urban trail work is in Manchester, NH, where I am a senior member of an outstanding trail advocacy group by the name of Manchester Moves. We are advancing rail trails on several fronts since Manchester is a historic hub for rail lines emanating in four directions from the urban core. I expect many of my questions and replies will come from our experiences on those trails. I look forward to participating in this forum. -Greg
Hi Jennifer, I read your post and wanted to introduce myself and our company, VHB, Inc since we have an office in Tysons Corner. Please check out VHB.com for more info on the firm and the office location. I also wanted to extend that we have a deep field of transportation planners and engineers, and within that group we have experts in bike, ped and transit. Please let me know if I can help you through this forum, or if I can connect you with our planning and design professionals in Tysons. Welcome and best of luck. -Greg
I am the Executive Director of Groundwork Trust Anacostia River DC, Inc, a not-for-profit organization located in Washington, DC. Groundwork Trust Anacostia is part of a national network of organizations referred to as groundwork trusts. The national network is GroundworkUSA and is a sponsored program of the EPA brownfields office and is administered through the NPS Rivers and Trails Conservation Assistance program (RTCA). Groundwork Anacostia recently installed a trail in a neighborhood in Washington, DC on some vacant NPS land that connects a trail in a DC owned park to the NPS Fort Circle National Historic Trail. Our contact at NPS referred me to RTC and the Urban Pathways Initiative. Groundwork Anacostia is interested in further improvement to the Fort Circle Trail system, how we can access information and resources to help accomplish this, and engaging in the creation of trails and walkability for the citizens of Washington, DC. We support the goals of RTC and want to learn more about the Urban Pathways Initiative.
Dennis Chestnut
Hi Dennis,
Great to hear about your work. Good to hear from someone just across town here in DC!
I encourage you - and anyone else working on urban pathway projects - to sign up for the conference RTC is hosting Feb. 25-26 in New Orleans to meet with folks working on similar projects. The full details - including scholarship opportunities to cover travel and lodging costs - are available at www.railstotrails.org/urbanpathways.
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy The Duke Ellington Building 2121 Ward Ct., NW 5th Floor Washington, DC 20037 +1-202-331-9696
