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jtomassetti
Posts:104
Super User
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| 10/08/2009 07:56:50 |
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| The Amelia Island Association public meeting on proposed bike trail for Amelia Island, Florida. On October 14 from 7 to 8:30 at Fernandina beach Police Department Conference room on Lime Street. See the current proposals at http://ameliaislandassociation.com/ameliaislandtrail.htm Please attend as very few cyclists are currently involved. |
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jtomassetti
Posts:104
Super User
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| 11/04/2009 12:14:53 |
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Here is a news article on the Amelia Island bicycle trails:
SOME DAY A BIKE TRAIL LOOP
By Beca Grimm, For the News-Leader
April 20, 2009
The paved path will circle 20 miles long, encompassing Amelia Island. Movers and shakers of the non-motorized variety will be able to cruise peacefully and safely separated from traffic accompanied by wildlife, canopy roads, sand dunes and the surf.
For visitors and residents of Fernandina Beach, the trail running from the Talbot Islands to Fort Clinch will provide a way to see the area.
The dream is a good one - now all that's left to do is transform it into something tangible.
Five years ago, Amelia Island resident Phil Scanlan's citizen-run Amelia Island Association group promoted a federal grant that awards roughly $1 million a year for trail construction. The money would provide for the construction of a 12-foot-wide paved path for non-motorized transportation around the island.
Scanlan had help in seeking this grant by way of the city and county recreation departments, rangers at the island's state parks and Mike Pikula, president of the Nassau Bike Club and chair of Nassau Community Trails.
The trail is also pegged to assist in connecting to the East Coast Greenway trail system, which runs from Calais, Maine, to Key West, connecting to Jacksonville via the Talbot Islands and to Georgia through the Cumberland Sound Ferry from Ferndina.
The Amelia Island Trail would stretch from the south end of the island all the way up to Fort Clinch, creating a loop. Walkers, joggers and bicyclists would be able to directly access Amelia Island State Park, the Fernandina Beach Historic District, beach accesses and other points of interest from the trail. "There's a lot of nice, little scenic places to bike around here," Pikula said.
Scanlan agrees. He says even if a person isn't a fan of cycling, there's a nice aesthetic the path is sure to implement on the island. "I'm not a bike advocate," Scanlan said. "I'm a let's-make-this-place-a-better-place advocate."
With an appealing recreation menu, Amelia Island is sure to attract more tourists once the path is completed. Bike Florida Executive Director Linda Crider described the finished route to have potential as a large pull in green tourism in the Winter 2008-2009 edition of the East Coast Greenway News.
And the recreational aspect is only part of the attraction of the completed trail. Scanlan is petitioning to implement "spokes" off the planned path to public schools as a part of the national Safe Routes to School program, also known as the SRTS program.
The SRTS program aims to create a healthy, more wholesome alternative for students to get to school in a safe way. With the introduction of the spokes, schoolchildren will be more apt to adopt healthy exercising habits and decrease their reliance on gasoline-powered transportation.
Although the prospect of a completed trail is exciting to many on the island, the trail probably won't be finished until 2015. "Things are happening but it's excruciatingly slow," Pikula said.
The plan is to connect existing routes, like the off-road trail at Fort Clinch, but there are still much left to construct. "I think it's really important to have a long-term plan," Scanlan said.
Securing the funds to erect this path has proven to be a tough task. "Those of us who want it don't have millions of dollars to just throw at it," said Pikula, a retiree from several occupations including three decades in the Air Force and a stint at the Nassau County Sheriff's Office.
The Amelia Island Trail could use better backing from community, both from the capital standpoint and otherwise. "The community needs to come together," Scanlan said. "The only thing that can make change is citizens."
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jtomassetti
Posts:104
Super User
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| 11/04/2009 12:23:34 |
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Here is news story about meeting held on October 14, 2009
BICYCLE-FRIENDLY ISLAND?
By Ryan Smith, News-Leader
Story created Oct 22, 2009
The Amelia Island Trail Project Team discussed the future of bike trails on the island at a public meeting Oct. 14 at Fernandina Beach Police Department headquarters. The team's goal is to connect parks, recreation centers, beach access points and schools with a network of bicycle-safe paths and trails.
"This team has agreed to a mission. ... Basically what we're trying to do is provide a safe path for walking, jogging and biking for the people of this community and for tourists," said AIT Chairman Phil Scanlan. "There are actually 20 wonderful parks and recreation areas on Amelia Island ... and we'd like to connect them. In addition, we'd like to connect the schools.
"We'd like to make this not just paths for the community, but paths that attract tourists," he added. "At some point, our goal is to become the best place to be bicycle-friendly in all of Florida."
However, the trail project is still, in large part, in the planning stages. "The only way to get this done is cooperation at the federal level, state level, county level and city level - and the only way for that to happen is for the citizens to support it," Scanlan said.
The project will also need the support of the Florida Department of Transportation, according to Austin Chapman, FDOT's Nassau County liaison. "Most of the trail is on the state road system, and will eventually need to be permitted and built by FDOT," he said. "... We do like the idea of mobility, and we like the idea of bike trails as enhancements, but we haven't endorsed a specific trail."
However, Chapman said 10.5 miles of on-road bike paths have been approved on A1A from the George Grady Bridge to Atlantic Avenue. Those paths should be constructed during a planned repaving project in 2010, Chapman said. FDOT's long-term plan is to construct an additional five miles of off-road trails along A1A between 2014-16, according to AIT's strategic plan.
Constructing bike trails around the island isn't a frivolous pursuit, according to Fernandina Beach Planning Director Marshall McCrary. "This is more than just a recreational aspect," he said. "We're blessed to live in a community small enough and compact enough to make walking and bicycling a legitimate means of transportation."
County Commissioner Danny Leeper said trail plans shouldn't be limited to the island. "From a county perspective ... we've got to focus not only on East Side bike trails, but we've got to focus on the West Side as well," he said. "The first question that comes to my mind is, how do we fund it? ... A lot of different agencies are going to have to work together, but I think we've got the key players to get things moving."
AIT's ultimate goal is to connect Amelia Island to the East Coast Greenway, a planned trail system that will stretch from Maine to the Florida Keys. Herb Hiller, Florida coordinator for the East Coast Greenway, said the AIT had made a good start.
"There is latent in what I'm hearing this evening an opportunity to mix these various viewpoints together into the next phase of action," he said. "Everybody who brings a new thought, a new idea, a new will for action, lifts everybody else up from their previous idea of what can be done."
For more information about the Amelia Island Trail strategic plan, as well as maps of the trail plans, go to www.ameliaislandassociation.com.
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Depot
Posts:116
Super User
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| 11/09/2009 13:30:27 |
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| Great stuff Jonathan! |
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Larry Clark, Ride Leader of Record
NFBC Ride Director for 2009
2009 1st Place Male/Overall Mileage Winner: 11,605 miles |
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