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FROM LEFT: DAVID SCHLABOWSKE; STEVE SHALUTA, COURTESY MON RIVER TRAILS CONSERVANCY; BRANDI HORTON; ANASTASIA TANTAROS; CINDY BARKS
Hudson Valley Trail Network
Named to Hall of Fame
The Dutchess Rail Trail, the
Hudson Valley Rail-Trail and
the Walkway Over the Hudson
joined the best of the best
when the Hudson Valley Trail
Network was inducted into
RTC’s Rail-Trail Hall of Fame
on Oct. 4.
Nearly 100 people attended
the ceremony, which took
place on the Walkway Over
the Hudson overlooking a
picturesque fall landscape,
and more than 7,000 joined the
ceremony via Facebook Live,
sharing their congratulations
for the trail network. The
ceremony featured rail-trail
volunteers and elected officials
from across the region who
have been central to the trail
network’s development, growth
and maintenance.
The Hudson Valley Trail
Network was selected as RTC’s
30th inductee via a nationwide
public vote held in honor of
RTC’s 30th anniversary, with
the winner receiving almost
54 percent of the 19,885 total
votes placed.
Contact: Brandi Horton,
What We’ve Been Up To
Route of the Badger
Rolls Out in Racine
In September, RTC hosted a
briefing in partnership with the
Wisconsin Bike Fed and the John-
son Foundation at Wingspread in
order for potential partners and
grassroots advocates to learn
more about the vision for the
Route of the Badger. This was the
first public rollout of the future
500-mile-plus world-class trail
network in Southeast Wisconsin
and included the trail-building,
business, planning, health and
political communities from
the region. Sign up to join the
coalition at
routeofthebadger.
Contact: Eric Oberg,
Industrial Heartland Trails
Coalition Summit Emphasizes
Regional Potential
In November, partners of the In-
dustrial Heartland Trails Coalition
(IHTC) gathered at a summit in
Cranberry Township, Pennsylva-
nia (just outside of Pittsburgh), to
focus efforts on the next phase
of project planning and develop-
ment: collaborative marketing
to grow the support and fund-
ing necessary to complete the
network. The summit reinforced
the IHTC vision and value of a
1,400-mile-plus regional trail sys-
tem that, when complete, would
be the largest shared-use trail
system in North America. Learn
more at .
Contact: Eric Oberg,
Capital Trails Coalition
Introduced to DC Region
On Oct. 13, RTC joined the Wash-
ington Area Bicyclist Associa-
tion, the National Park Service,
REI and a crowd of more than 40
guests and press representatives
along the Mount Vernon Trail
in Washington, D.C. to formally
introduce the Capital Trails Coali-
tion. The coalition—supported
by REI, who has committed
$500,000 to support the develop-
ment of this project—is work-
ing to complete a world-class
multiuse trail network in the
D.C. metro region. Learn more at
.
Contact: Liz Thorstensen,
Druid Hill Farmers Market
Events Focus on Community
and Health
In partnership with Bikemore and
the American Planning Associa-
tion, RTC organized a series of
events at the Druid Hill Farm-
ers Market on the Jones Falls
Trail in Baltimore to educate the
community about the Baltimore
Greenway Trails Coalition. Each
Wednesday in September, the
RTC team was at the market talk-
ing with neighborhood residents
about their walking and bicycling
needs. The final event—a tem-
porary crosswalk demonstration
at a dangerous intersection into
Druid Hill Park, adjacent to the
market and the trail, highlighted
the need for improved bike/ped
infrastructure. Learn more at
.
Contact: Jim Brown,
$90 Million Allocated to
Trails, Biking and Green
Infrastructure in California
California recently announced
plans to allocate $900 million to
programs specifically targeted
toward reducing greenhouse gas
emissions while benefiting low-
income areas, supporting clean
transportation and reducing
climate pollution. Of that fund-
ing, $90 million is going toward
programs that support trails, in-
cluding the Active Transportation
Program and the Urban Greening
Program. Both fund projects that
help California meet its environ-
mental and mobility goals and
create healthy communities.
This is an exciting development
that promotes equity in active
transportation and will have
lasting implications for the role
trails play in combating climate
change and air pollution.
Contact: Laura Cohen,
Route of the Badger Rolls
Out in Racine, Wisconsin
IHTC Summit Emphasizes
Potential Across Four-State
Region
Capital Trails Coalition’s
Regional Vision Introduced to
DC Metro Area
Druid Hill Farmers Market
Events Focus on Community
and Health
$90 Million Allocated to
Trails, Biking, Green Infra-
structure in California
R T C Q U A R T E R LY R E P O R T
WINTER 2017 RAILS TO TRAILS 3