Cannon Creek Greenway proposal up for review
A proposal for a bicycle and pedestrian trail along the Richmond-Henrico Turnpike (dubbed Cannon Creek Greenway) is coming up in front of the City Planning Commission on Tuesday, February 22 at 1:30pm at City Hall.
According to tipster Jeanne, the Virginia National Guard has agreed to donate the equipment and manpower needed to get the project started — a contribution worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. However, there’s still a chance the proposal won’t get approved, so they need as many residents as possible at the meeting.
The details:
Tuesday, February 22 at 1:30pm
Richmond City Hall (900 E. Broad Street)
5th Floor Conference Room
For more information, contact Charles Price (the person spearheading this project) at fewmit@comcast.net.
No matter what happens with the trails in Cannon Creek, the city needs to get behind any effort to stop the decades long dumping that goes on in that ravine. Tires, old mattresses, garbage — the worst you can think of. Get neighborhood watch out and report the violators. Allow the people that live in that neighborhood to have pride in their surroundings. The biking & hiking trails would be a reward and also another way to keep an eye out for that land. Please, we have landfills for that kind of refuse. Tell councilperson Ellen Robertson that you care about that property and want it to be cleaned up.
This will most likely eventually become part of the East Coast Greenway.
http://greenway.org/index.shtml
If the Chamber of Commerce wants to promote businesses coming to Richmond by having places for workers to bike and hike where the live and work, they should really get behind this.
Can we send letters of support if unable to attend? Contact info?
No, letters will not arrive on time. You may email your support, prior to 10 AM on the 22nd, to Charles Price at the email address in the article. You may also want to ask the Planning Commission in your emailed support to hold public meetings at times more conducive to those who work for a living. A 1:30 meeting seems designed to discourage public participation.
In response to Phil R above, I can tell you that the adjacent neighborhoods DO have pride in this area. They are the groups that habe been pushing and planning for five years for this Greenway. The City does indeed need to keep the area clean, but the only way it will stay free of trash is if it the area is heavily used as a park. It is our belief the Greenway will be of economic and quality of life benefit to the entire city, and to this section of North Side in particular. It would be a shame if a few people who disapprove of the location of the bike trail derail the entire project.
Just curious about who is against this trail and what are their issues?
There have been multiple mass clean ups of this area; it is time for the City to move forward with the project and partner with the Guard to install Phase I, which is the bike/hike trail along the east side of the Turnpike. The wetlands on the right will be preserved and the 100 year old sewer pipes underground will not be in danger of being damaged. Later, Phase II will include an outdoor classroom/science lab for schools, VA native wetlands and woodlands gardens, areas for outdoor theatre, a revamped cookout / picnic area and a park along the west side of the Turnpike. Road safety improvements and traffic calming measures, badly needed and begged for by residents, are also in the works for the Turnpike.
The 9 people on the Mayor’s Urban Tree Commission oppose the plan because about 40 scrub, invasive variety and damaged trees will be removed along one section of the bike trail. The area, by the way, is very heavily wooded and the state forrestry people have already reported that he area all along the proposed Greenway must be thinned for safety reasons, and also because invasive, non-native trees and vines are choking out the native, old growth.
The section the Urban Forrestry people are pushing is actually boggy wetland, encompasses an area that holds the picnic area now, and a section that later will hold an area for outdoor science study and native gardens.
More significantly, the west side has very old sewage pipes less than 3 feet below the surface. The ground, according to several studies, will not protect the pipes from the heavy equipment needed to build the trails and then maintain them. Does Battery Park ring a bell?
Every organization that has been involved in the five years of planning, including the Sierra Club, local civic assn’s, City and National Guard engineers, VA Tech and VCU landscape design departments and the lical and state bike organizations, all favor the east side orientation of the trails. Only the Mayor’s civilian commission, new to the process, continues to oppise it, despite the solid reasoning supporting it.
It is essential that the Commission see the depth of public support for the Greenway tomorrow.
I forgot to mention that the City has committed to planting three properly chosen and placed native trees to every tree removed for the project. So removing 40 trees that are mostly skinny, scrub trees will net 120 native trees chosen for hardiness and appropriateness for the area. The proper tree in tbe proper place. I live and walk our dogs in this area, and most of the trees marked for removal are 3″ or less in diameter, badly growing, have lightening or insect damage, or are mimosas and trees of heaven. I am a certified master gardener with some training in tree health, and you can plainly see cankers, broken and dead limbs, and way too much crowding in the trees affected by the plan.
Also, I apologize for the above typos. Fat fingers, tiny keypad.
Thank you for all the knowledge you’ve shared JB. You seem to be connected and putting yourself into this, and I hope it works out well. I cleaned once a couple of years ago, removing tires and mattresses. We got almost nowhere and filled a truck. Things must have progressed from there to better conditions. I ride when I can and I’m looking forward to this project.