Hello Parkersburg to Pittsburgh (P2P) Corridor friends,
We trust you’re enjoying the spring trail season and hope some of you were able to participate in Opening Day for Trails on that beautiful Saturday last month. We had a great time with Harrison Rail Trails and the North Bend Rail Trail Foundation in Salem, WV, and the Mon River Trails Conservancy hosted another booming arts market in Morgantown. In fact, MRTC tracked nearly 2,000 trail users that day - a new trail record! Thank you to everyone who participated and helped make these trail events so successful.
Here’s a quick roundup of other P2P and IHTC news and events...
P2P Corridor Meeting Notes - March 15, 2019
The P2P Corridor Working Group joined forces with the Mon River Valley Coalition for a combined meeting to discuss trail and river town promotion, marketing and communications. A contact list, PowerPoint slides and discussion notes are available here. We look forward to working with you throughout the year to achieve some of our short-term goals.
IHTC Quarterly Meeting - May 15, 2019 [REGISTER]
The next quarterly IHTC meeting will be hosted via webinar on May 15 from 11am - 1pm and will focus on community building and events. Amy Camp of Cycle Forward will present on different ways that events can bring a community together in support of your trail and Chris Corban of PEC will moderate a discussion from many IHTC trail partners. Please register here to join. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
Corridor and Trail Updates - Summer 2019
We will host the next P2P Corridor meeting in June or July and plan to capture project updates in a short report. For WV trails and gaps, we will revisit the Action Plan in the Feasibility Study to note successes and next steps. Stay tuned for more info!
Transportation Alternatives Program and Rec Trail Program Grant Applications (WV)
WVDOT announced that they will be accepting TAP and RTP applications for 2019. The deadline to submit an Intent to Apply was in April. Those applicants that are approved by WVDOT to submit an application will need to meet the May 31 deadline. Please let us know if you would like RTC to submit a letter of support for any application that involves trail projects in the P2P Corridor.
P2P Corridor - Open Trails on TrailLink.com
As discussed in the March meeting, all of the open trails in the P2P Corridor are on RTC’s trail finder website, www.traillink.com. Each of the trail pages includes photos, a map, detailed description and reviews. Check them out, add a review/photos, and let me know if there are any necessary changes!
IHTC and the Great American Rail-Trail
Yesterday RTC hosted a Facebook Live event to reveal the route of the Great American Rail-Trail, a cross-country rail-trail that will span 3,700 miles and connect 12 states and the District of Columbia. The route will follow existing trails like the Great Allegheny Passage and will utilize much of the planned Cleveland to Pittsburgh corridor route of the IHTC’s network vision, including a segment in Weirton, WV. We’re excited that all three IHTC states (PA, OH, WV) are included in this effort to connect our country by rail-trail.
Get out on the trails and stay in touch! We look forward to seeing you this summer.
All the best,
Kelly Pack and Kent Spellman
Kelly Pack, Senior Director of Trail Development
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy