![]() ![]() We’re at a time in our country when people value biking and walking. It represents the movement of getting this done. “All of that support for the overall mission and goal of building and connecting trails across the country is what makes this possible,” said Horton. The conservancy will work with local groups and state governments to complete the Great American Rail-Trail. However, Horton said, the time is right to build trails in America now, with the broad base of grassroots support for creating safe places to bike and walk at a local level. Horton expects new aspects of the Great American Rail-Trail to open every year, but admitted the entire project is so large in scope that it could be decades until it is completed. The work that remains will be to build the missing links between those gateway rail trails, and to help local trail builders and states find the resources to get those projects done. “The beauty is, it’s 50 percent complete,” said Horton. ![]() Those trails are open now and available to the public to experience. ![]() For now, the conservancy has identified gateway rail trails in 12 states that will be linked together to make up the Great American Rail-Trail. The entire 4,000-mile route will be unveiled in detail in May. Map Courtesy: Rails-to-Trails Conservancy The 50 percent mark was a threshold that gives the conservancy confidence to say that Burwell’s dream will become reality. Even though a coast-to-coast rail trail has been a longtime vision of the conservancy, the group just revealed the concept earlier this month when they confirmed that 50 percent of the trails were built. Eventually, the paper maps and records became a digital GIS database, which has allowed the conservancy to track the progress of more than 125 trails in 12 states that will link up to create the Great American Rail-Trail. At the office, Horton said, a paper map tracked railroad corridors in the United States as they fell into disuse, were converted into trails, and opened to the public. Today, more than 23,000 miles of rail trails have been built.īeginning in the late 1980s, the conservancy has tracked the possibility of traveling across the country on “flat, wide, off-road paths,” a dream held by co-founder David Burwell. When the group was formed, 250 miles of rail trails existed. Founded in 1986, the group’s mission is to work with trail-building groups and government agencies to convert former rail lines into a nationwide network of trails. “The Great American Rail-Trail has the potential to not just be a destination, but also a journey, and a journey through the heart of America,” said Brandi Horton, vice president of communications for the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. ![]()
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