Sunday, June 08, 2008
Pulaski's trail to the future
Christian Trejbal
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From the RoundTable blog
Many communities, especially in Southwest Virginia, are declining. Businesses close, taking jobs with them. Those that remain offer low wages. Young people depart for greener pastures.
When a town falls on hard times, a couple of things might happen. The town might fade away, drying up and leaving behind a ghost town or some close approximation to one. Alternatively, a town might build a new path forward, doing the little things that together add up to something bigger.
The people of Pulaski aren't about to give up. This weekend, they celebrate the opening of a trail extension to the New River Trail State Park. It's one more step toward a brighter future.
The New River Trail is the state's longest linear park, stretching 57 miles from Pulaski to Galax. It follows 39 miles of the river and runs along an old Norfolk Southern rail line. Annually about a million people hike, bike and camp along it.
So if there is already so much nice trail in the region, why spend more than $400,000 extending it? The town chipped in $150,000 from an unappropriated fund balance that had built up over years. The federal government contributed $200,000, and the state paid for the rest.
For starters, the trail connection into Pulaski is much stronger. The state for years has tried to better connect comunities by trails.
The New River Trail's terminus used to be on the outskirts of town at Xaloy. Now it goes 2.5 miles farther to the old train depot and park in downtown. Visiting hikers and bikers will have reason to enter Pulaski proper, perhaps stopping for dinner or to spend the night.
Indeed, some residents already are talking about opening bike and outdoor gear shops close to the trail.
"It's another little piece in the puzzle to make Pulaski a destination point," Town Manager John Hawley said. "That's been one of our goals to get people thinking about moving back to Pulaski."
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Rep. Rick Boucher, who was scheduled to speak at yesterday's grand opening, shares that same hope. "As a result of this extension of the New River Trail, more trail users will visit downtown Pulaski. The increased visitation will create new and greater opportunities for the residents of the town including the potential for small tourism-related businesses such as bike shops or retailers," he said.
The trail extension also is an amenity in a town that could use a few more. Hawley reports that even before the trail officially opened, residents were using it.
It's easy to see what they might like. Getting on the trail is easy, and it runs along Peak Creek. Fishermen particularly should be excited about the convenient access to the trout-stocked waterway.
The trail's idyllic route is testament to the persistence of town staff and cooperative residents willing to work together for a common good. Some stretches of the trail use rights of way across back yards. The town never had to go to court or exercise condemnation.
The trail is well constructed, too. The first 0.8 miles from downtown is paved and from there on out is fine gravel. The local contractor who won the job, Meade Contracting, did a great job. Meanwhile, Dave Hart, the parks director, and his staff have the trail in tip-top shape.
In the future the town might improve the trail with benches, picnic tables and interpretive signs. Those additions will cost some small amount each year, but that money will be a wise investment by the council.
Two and a half miles of trail will not save Pulaski. The extension might, however, improve the quality of life for residents and make the town a little more attractive for potential residents and tourists. The little things add up.
Christian Trejbal is an editorial writer for The Roanoke Times based in the New River Valley bureau in Christiansburg.
