COLUMBIA, SC - Supporters of a rails-to-trails project, which if fulfilled will expand 30 miles and connect Calhoun Falls, Hickory Knob, and Baker Creek state parks, will meet with state officials at 3 p.m., Thursday, November 8, in Columbia...
COLUMBIA, SC - Supporters of a rails-to-trails project, which if fulfilled will expand 30 miles and connect Calhoun Falls, Hickory Knob, and Baker Creek state parks, will meet with state officials at 3 p.m., Thursday, November 8, in Columbia.
S.C. Representative Paul Agnew has called a meeting with officials from the state departments of Commerce and Parks, Recreation, and Tourism to discuss the possibility of implementing a rails to-trails proposal that the Palmetto Conservation Foundation created in 2000.
The meeting will be in Room 238 of the Brown Building at 1205 Pendleton Street in Columbia.
According to "A Citizens Guide to Rail Trail Conversion" by A. Wyeth Ruthven, the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy defines a rail-trail as “a multi-purpose public path created from a railroad corridor.”
The State of South Carolina has a more legalistic definition. It defines a rail-trail as “a railroad right-of-way or corridor held for railroad rightof- way preservation may be used for interim public purposes compatible with preservation of the corridor for future transportation use.”
In plain English, a rail-trail is preservation with a purpose. It starts with a railroad corridor: the parcel of land containing the railbed where the tracks once lay, and the right-of-way bordering either side of the railbed. A state agency, local government, or private non-profit organization acquires the corridor and coverts it into a trail. This trail can take many forms – it can be paved with asphalt, covered with mulch, or left in a natural state.
This rail-trail serves two purposes. First, it provides a recreational space for hiking, biking, rollerblading, horseback riding, or other outdoor purpose. Second, the trail preserves the railroad right-ofway for a future transportation use – just in case a railroad is needed in the community once again.
A rail-trail is intended to be an interim, or temporary, use of the railroad corridor. However, there is no fixed time limit on how long this “temporary” use may last. A rail-trail might provide years of enjoyment before it is ever converted back into railroad tracks. And in many cases, that “temporary” purpose might last a lifetime.
Source: Palmetto Conservation Foundation