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BikeAthens has been working with the ACC government through
the rail trail committee for the past several years in efforts
to convert a portion of the abandoned CSX corridor in East
Athens into a rail trail. This trail could connect the East
Side, Dudley Park, the Greenway (connecting to UGA campus
and Sandy Creek Nature Center) , the Multi-Modal Transportation
Center, the Civic Center, and downtown Athens. We look forward
to the great opportunity that this potential rail trail presents
as a transportation and recreational corridor.
Following is a description of the project provided
by the rail trail committee, accompanied by several
graphics we've generated over the past several years.
At the end of the document are thumbnail links to images
of the Virginia Creeper and Silver Comet rail trails.
For more information about this project, please contact
rail trail committee member Dorothy
O'Niell.
Athens-Clarke County
Rail Trail Demonstration Project:
Abandoned Rails as Bike/Pedestrian Transportation Corridors
Project Description | Project
Significance | Project Benefits | Future
Expansion Potential |
MAPS
Project Description
The Athens-Clarke County (ACC) Rail Trail Demonstration Project
involves the development of a bike/pedestrian transportation
corridor along a one-mile section of recently abandoned rail
corridor that parallels Oak Street/Oconee Street between the
Athens Perimeter and downtown. The rail trail will encourage
bicycle, pedestrian, and transit commuting by offering users
a safe, direct, and topographically level route that connects
neighborhoods on the east side of Athens with a scenic gateway
to the downtown area and the University of Georgia (UGA) campus.
The primary goals of the project will be to demonstrate the
feasibility of converting rail lines to achieve long-term
transportation objectives, and to generate interest in the
development of other local rail corridors that proposed for
near-term abandonment. The project will also serve to show
that these objectives can be achieved in an environmentally
sound manner that promotes economic development through neighborhood
revitalization and tourism, enhances local historic preservation
efforts, and promotes healthier lifestyles in the community.
On its eastern end, the rail trail would link to existing
bike lanes on Barnett Shoals Road that provide access along
a 2-mile corridor to neighborhoods, schools, and commercial
areas on the eastside of Athens. On its western end, the rail trail
will terminate near downtown at the ACC multi-modal transportation
center now under construction, which will serve as the hub
for Athens and UGA transit service. The western terminus is
just east of downtown, adjacent to the Classic Center convention
and cultural facilities. Besides serving as a scenic gateway
to downtown and UGA, the project location would provide a
bicycle/pedestrian bypass parallel to the busiest (and one
of the most dangerous) sections of roadway in Athens-Clarke
County.
The proposed rail trail project has other major benefits to
the community as well, including a unique opportunity for
the possible adaptive re-use and reconstruction of a historic
wood-timbered railroad trestle over Trail Creek in Dudley
Park. The rail trail would also provide direct connectivity
with the North Oconee River Greenway, which links Sandy Creek
Nature Center north of town with North, South and East UGA
campuses. This connectivity provides an enhanced potential
for both commuting and recreational benefits to be derived
from trail development.
Project Significance
As a demonstration project, the rail trail would show the
benefits of developing in-town abandoned rail lines primarily
as transportation corridors. This project stands in contrast
to most other rail trail developments in the state/regional
area, which have been developed primarily for recreational.
While this rail trail would attract significant recreational
use (particularly with its linkage to the North Oconee River
Greenway), there is little question that its primary importance
to the community will be as a safe, direct, and topographically
level bike/pedestrian link from the eastside of Athens to
downtown and UGA.
This rail trail project can demonstrate a unique and highly
significant historic preservation component. The adaptive
re-use and reconstruction of the wood-timbered railroad trestle
built in 1883 over Trail Creek would add historic value and
beauty to the corridor. The trestle is located in Dudley Park,
where it would serve as a functioning interpretive site along
the particular section of the Greenway known as the "Heritage
Trail". The Heritage Trail, designated by the White House
as part of the national network of Millennium Trails, illustrates
and honors the economic, social, and cultural history of the
city of Athens, which originated in this locale.
The project will also demonstrate that the development of
a bike/pedestrian transportation corridor can yield significant
economic benefits for the community. There is a significant
promotional potential to be derived from the reconstruction
and incorporation of the Trail Creek trestle into the proposed
trail. The wood-timbered structure, associated with the Athens-based
rock band R.E.M. from an album cover photograph, has long
been an undervalued tourist attraction in the Athens area
that continues to draw visitors from all over the world. There
is little question that the trestle and rail trail, would
have significant promotional attraction for organizations
such the ACC Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, the ACC
Classic Center, and the Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation’s
Welcome Center. Their promotional efforts would be enhanced
by recognition from national Rails-to-Trails Conservancy organization,
which has a website and numerous publications distributed
to a nationwide population of trail enthusiasts.
Other economic benefits to be derived from the development
of the rail trail include the revitalization potential along
the corridor, including the enhancement of the in-town neighborhoods
with nearby access to the rail trail. Alternate commuting
choices would undoubtedly improve residential property values
in the area, as has been proven time and again nationwide
with rail trail development. There are also very significant
possibilities for developing pleasant commercial nodes with
restaurants and local retail establishments (bike shops, bookstores,
video stores, gift shops) that would be accessed by both commuting
and recreational trail users. The location of the trail in
a nearby and parallel configuration with the Oak Street/Oconee
Street corridor would only enhance the potential development
of small, commercial, neighborhood-based nodes, as automobile
access to these areas would not be precluded.
Project Benefits
Economic Benefits. Nationwide, bike/pedestrian facilities
have proven time and again to be a cost-effective use of public
funds, frequently generating far more in revenues (through
sales, property, and income tax increases related to neighborhood
revitalization, commercial opportunity, tourism, and overall
benefits to the economy) than they cost to construct.
Environmental Benefits. The project provides a means
to encourage people to reduce automobile trips, resulting
in overall improved air quality. In Athens, principal barriers
to biking or walking involve safety issues and topography.
This project provides both a safe and a topographically less
challenging route to the center of town and to the primary
transit hub. A further environmental benefit would be the
potential for preserving and creating a functional use of
one of Athens’ previously undervalued historical resources.
Congestion Mitigation. Alternate commuting options
will help to give relief to the busiest section of roadway
of Athens-Clarke County, for which few other solutions for
traffic mitigation presently exist.
Health and Safety Benefits. The project provides an
opportunity for an enhanced quality of life for those who
seek a change from everyday automobile commuting. The linkage
to the Greenway and to UGA facilities provides means increased
access to recreational opportunities close to home. Both options
equate to the promotion of active living lifestyles by offering
opportunities for moderate exercise integrated with daily
commuting, shopping, or recreational routines.
Educational Benefits. Besides educating local citizens
to the value and enjoyment of bikeable, walkable communities,
this project provides a very special educational opportunity
for the youthful and renewable population of University students
that stay a few years and then move on. To provide these students
with safe alternative commuting routes is to provide a positive
experience that will go with them to other communities.
Future Expansion Potential
There is potential for the future phased completion of the
rail trail project all the way to Winterville (11 miles).
Phased-in additions to the rail trail would expand the transportation
significance for commuters along the route, as well as introduce
a larger recreational component to the project. The area surrounding
Winterville is a favored location of recreational cyclists
due to its relatively mild topography and rural beauty. A
large ACC landholding around the Athens Airport would offer
further possibilities for spur trails eastward, with no costs
for acquisition of right-of-way.
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