Greenways Nova Scotia An NSPACTS Newsletter

Transcription

1 Greenways Nova Scotia An NSPACTS Newsletter Volume 1, Issue 1 November 2009 Nova Scotians Promoting Active-transportation on Community Trails NSPACTS Hosts First Ever Greenways Think Tank - Barbara Bishop, NSPACTS & Paradise Active Healthy Living Society What has NSPACTS been doing lately What s happening around Nova Scotia What do we stand for? What do Doctors Nova stand for? How does Nova Scotia define shared use and how does the rest of the World? Inside this issue: First Greenways Workshop Building an Active Transportation Trail Strolling in Annapolis County Kentville to Wolfville Trail Corridor Doctors Nova Scotia US Government s Definition of shared use. NSPACTS Goal Statement and Contacts Acadia University: Monday October 26, NSPACTS held it and they came! It was timely and it was needed - a day for people concerned with the five pillars that Active Transportation on community trails touches: health, the environment, community development, transportation, and tourism. Why this and why now? NSPACTS (Nova Scotians Promoting Active Transportation on Community Trails) believes that a Greenway - a Green, non-motorized trail connecting people and communities- is the best solution both for Nova Scotia s trail woes and our crisis of inactivity and deteriorating environment. We know that where Greenways have been developed, they are popular and effective in encouraging the most common physical activities, walking and cycling, which in turn reduces illness and accidents and thus generates huge cost savings. Greenways are convenient, they fill the bill for daily walks, biking safely to the grocery store, work, or school, or for Participants in the First Nova Scotia Greenways Workshop cross-country skiing on a quiet snowy night. Elsewhere in this newsletter you ll find that even in Nova Scotia, where up to 90% of our trails are motorized, those communities fortunate enough to have Greenways love them. Who was there? It was marvelous. There were trail builders and professors (Business, Environmental Studies, Economics, Recreation Management and Community Development), doctors and municipal planners, landowners and community volunteers, city and town councilors, cyclists and walkers, retired engineers and foresters as well as environmentalists. Our Keynote speaker was, Marc Panneton, an Active Transportation specialist with Quebec s Department of Transportation. Marc told the story of the Route Verte in Quebec. It s a Greenway that has brought huge economic and tourism benefits, dramatically reduced cycling accidents and deaths, and given Quebec a world s best reputation. It was voted number one in the world by no less than National Geographic. And it all started with Velo Quebec-at the time a modest cycling advocacy group. Marc s message was - it began with a vision and a plan by AT advocates but was for the benefit of the province as a whole. What did we do? Morning workshops began with the Greenways vision and how it could work in Nova Scotia. During lunch we interacted with Acadia s Ecotourism students who gave poster presentations on Greenway themes such as

2 Greenways Nova Scotia Page 2 Think Tank continued A Greenway in Edinburgh, Scotland Shared Use Nova Scotia Style nothing similar in Quebec economic benefits, marketing and promotional strategies, and health and environmental benefits. John Hawkins led us on a photographic tour of his cycling trips on greenways and pathways in North America and abruptly brought us back to Nova Scotia s reality of shared use trails that are truly motorised trails. Trails here are full of potholes, ruts and puddles, no place for cycling or walking safely or peacefully, no place for families exercising or enjoying nature. John was followed by a panel presentation and group discussion on the health, environmental, social and economic costs of motorised trails and the important and contrasting benefits of greenways. The workshop concluded with a resounding endorsement of the greenways concept and the NSPACTS Position Paper, a working paper offered for discussion. Fully 86% of those present showed their support for the concept while others called for a modicum of rewording to build broader support beyond workshop participants. NSPACTS readily agreed to address these concerns and circulate a second draft among attendees for review and approval. My epiphany occurred as we discussed the Trans Canada Trail and its snowmobile policy. I spoke about my own experience with motorised trails and how scary I find them. Trails are extremely icy when groomed, too slippery to walk on even though they are flat and the snowmobiles and ATVs frequently speed through our village. I rarely use the trail now. NSPACTS chair, Bob Connell, asked Marc, our keynote, about this, and he hesitated, clearly struggling for an answer. Why the hesitation? Because, as he said, he really couldn t imagine the experience as there was nothing similar in Quebec. It doesn t happen in Quebec. If a trail is designated for snowmobiles, the government would not think of allowing walkers or crosscountry skiers on the same trail and vice versa! There was a similar story from Poul Jorgenson, our guest from New Brunswick Trails. It is not and never has been a plan of the New Brunswick government to court the risks and disadvantages of combining motorized and active transportation uses; it simply doesn t work, the New Brunswick government knows that. If Nova Scotians knew what shared use really meant, they would say NO too. NSPACTS plan is to let Nova Scotians know the dangers and the costs of shared use for the vast majority and offer Nova Scotians a sensible vision that will improve their health and environment, make our villages and towns peaceful once again, and build a world class active transportation corridor convenient for work and play that attracts not only tourists but stimulates economic development, builds community, and improves our quality of life in extremely challenging times. The Anatomy of Building an Active Transportation Trail Bob Connell, Chair, NSPACTS and CRPS The Coldbrook Trail regulated and unrestricted growth in the use of motorized, off-highway vehicles and an associated decrease in active transportation users. After moving to the Cambridge- Coldbrook area of the Annapolis Valley in September 2004 it wasn t long before we heard, literally, the abandoned railbed trail located about a kilometre from our new home. On those first fall and winter evenings, the The Dominion Atlantic Railroad operated a rail line through the Annapolis Valley until This railbed was subsequently acquired as Crown Land by the Province of Nova Scotia. Since 1993, land adjacent to the railbed along the six kilometre stretch between Kentville and Cambridge, once considered relatively remote, has become dotted with subdivision developments. At the same time, the rail bed experienced unhigh pitched whine of ATVs and dirt bikes could be heard breaking the quiet and peaceful stillness of the evening. After cycling the trail ourselves, I couldn t help but wonder how those folks who lived beside the trail coped with the noise at all hours of the day and night. As it turned out I wasn t alone. Over 2005 word spread that a local off-highway motorized

3 Volume 1, Issue 1 Page 3 Trail Anatomy continued group was petitioning Government to have a section of railbed in the ColdbrookCambridge urbanized corridor of Kings County officially designated for motorized use. After a few evenings huddled around a dining room table the community based Cornwallis Trails Committee was formed, later to become the Cornwallis River Pathways Society. Over the next few years the CRPS became committed to developing a community-based facility founded upon the tenets of the Trans Canada Trail Foundation. The trail would be open to nonmotorized activities in the summer and cross-country skiing and snowmobiling during the winter. In March 2008 following extensive public meetings and support from area community associations and corporations, CRPS was issued a Letter of Authority by the Province of Nova Scotia to maintain and operate a recreational trail... on the railway corridor from the western boundary of the Town of Kentville to the west side of Sharpe Brook. Funding was secured through Municipal, Provincial and corporate sponsors and the real work began. Over a two year period and with the contribution of countless volunteer hours three bridges were replaced, culverts were installed, gates and signage erected, rests stops with picnic tables and benches were developed, and the trail was hardsurfaced with crushed shale. After five years in our Valley home the evenings are quiet. Walking or biking the trail is no longer the negative experience it once was but a truly social event. unusual. Build It And They Will Come has definitely become a reality. At any time of the day you will meet folks on their bikes, running, or couples walking handin-hand enjoying the scenic views and peace and quiet of the tranquil Cornwallis River Valley. Besides the health benefits, the trail also offers ideal bird watching opportunities as well as the chance to observe many species of wildlife from deer to at least three varieties of turtles. More work is yet to be done but the trail has already become a community resource that will continue to gain in popularity as word spreads about its charms. For more information, photographs, or to contact the CRPS, please visit their website: it. Annapolis Royal was declared the most livable small town in the world a few years ago, and with good reason. Their trails reflect that. The Town has a loosely organized system of walking trails that includes dyke-land, a boardwalk, a marsh, a wooded area and an old railway bed. After a few evenings huddled around a dining room table the community based Cornwallis Trails Committee was formed When once you might meet one other non-motorized user, meeting a half dozen or so now is not Strolling through the centuries in Annapolis Royal John Kinsella Former Mayor of Annapolis Royal If you re going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair. If you re going on the trail in Annapolis Royal, be sure to bring a bike, or hiking boots or runners, or a stroller for the little ones. Oh, and don t forget your binoculars. You will love Checking out trail accessibility in HRM The Town of Annapolis Royal is the smallest town in Nova Scotia. Despite its size, it has a trail system the rest of the Province can only hope to emulate. Imagine what it would be like. Better yet, come for a walk with me and my wife Lillian -- a walk we take almost daily.

4 Greenways Nova Scotia Page 4 Annapolis Royal Depending on the day or season, we have seen Canada geese, a variety of ducks, muskrats, the occasional great blue heron, white- tailed deer. We leave our house and walk over to the cut that was the spur line to the wharf. In days gone by, that spur line had trains that brought apples and other fruit from the Annapolis Valley to be loaded onto ships. That meant apples under the Christmas tree in Victorian London. This path leads us to the French Basin Trail, a one and a half kilometer path around a marsh. Depending on the day or season, we have seen Canada geese, a variety of ducks, muskrats, the occasional great blue heron, white- tailed deer. One year, we had a family of foxes spend their summer there. The marsh and the trail surrounding it were created by Ducks Unlimited in co-operation with the Town. It serves not only as home to all this wildlife, but it provides tertiary sewage treatment for the Town, Granville Ferry and Lequille. After we leave the trail, we go on the abandoned rail line. The town has chosen to make the section of the rail bed that crosses the town accessible to nonmotorized traffic only. Our idyllic walk is undisturbed. We walk up to either School Street or carry on along the rail bed to the soccer fields. Either way, we end up coming out onto Saint George Street, the Town s main thoroughfare. We walk past the centuries old homes, bed and breakfasts, the Historic Gardens, and meet visitors and neighbours en route. Lots of folks from outside of town drive in and walk on the sidewalks or trails with an exercise buddy, be it friend or spouse. This informal network of trails and walkways offers a scenic and safer alternative to walking on the side of the road in the County. The foot traffic really picks up in the spring. This trail system exists because the community had a shared vision of what a trail system can be and their Council directed their Recreation Department to make it happen. There have been threats along the way, legal and otherwise. Those threats have been rebuffed. The trail system continues to be expanded, and will continue to serve in the best interests of the health and well being of this charming and vital community. Kentville to Wolfville Trail Corridor Glyn Bissix, Chair, Kieran Pathways Society The Wolfville Corridor Five years ago when the Kieran Pathways Society first developed its five year vision of an active transportation pathway joining Kentville, Wolfville and Port Williams, it never imagined that the Department of Health Promotion and Protection (HPP) would be its nemesis. HPP has insisted, despite all the evidence against it, that all the rail corridors must be shared use which is code for ATV and snowmobile trail access. Their present vision remains as a continuous ATV/ snowmobile trail from one end of the province to the other. This push to promote Off Highway Recreational Vehicles is despite all the evidence that they are extremely dangerous, bad for the environment, disruptive to local communities, substantially increase trail maintenance and deter active walkers and cyclists. Furthermore, there are thousands of kilometres of ATV and snowmobile trails elsewhere in the Province. Thankfully Kentville, Wolfville and the Village of New Minas have embraced active transportation on the abandoned rail corridor, and where the rail-line remains active, they have worked cooperatively with the Windsor-Hantsport Railway Company to have both rail and active transportation pathways co-exist. This year, in anticipation of a new middle school close to the Soccer Dome, Kentville has paved a few kilometres of trails that when extended and safe passage through the town centre is secured, both students and staff as well as soccer dome users will be able to walk, bike or wheelchair safely and conveniently from all over town. Last year Wolfville opened its first kilometre of the

5 Volume 1, Issue 1 Page 5 Kentville Wolfville continued Kieran Pathway and New Minas is now exploring ways and means to extend its active transportation corridor. It is hoped that the county will soon join in and make the active transportation network complete. Given the increasing recognition among Nova Scotians of the importance of healthy, active living, the danger and environmental damage caused by ATV s and snowmobiles on community trails, it is hoped that the newly elected NDP government will quickly embrace a new Greenways vision for the abandoned rail corridors that will help transform Nova Scotia s trail policy into one that aggressively addresses the 21 st century need for a healthy and environmentally friendly active transportation network throughout our province. So many would thank them. The Kentville Paved Corridor A US Government Definition of Shared Use : ing how wide paths Shared paths are paved, off-road facilities designed for travel by a variety of nonmotorized users, including bicyclists, pedestrians, skaters, joggers, and others. Shared -path planners and designers face a serious challenge in determinshould be and whether the various modes of travel should be separated from each other. US Department of Transportation: Federal Highway Administration, July designed for travel by a variety of nonmotorized users, including bicyclists, pedestrians, skaters, joggers, and others.

6 NSPACTS Purpose is to: Nova Scotians Promoting Active-transportation on Community Trails 1. Promote and create sustainable trails and pathways that accommodate all forms of Active Transportation including mobility aids. 2. Actively advocate and promote people powered trails. Address: Create Active, Healthy and Sustainable Community Trails and Pathways for all Nova Scotians. 3. Challenge trail policies within government that fail to embrace and promote active living. 4. Advocate for policies that protect the health of our communities by promoting laws that prohibit excessive noise and other forms of pollution. 5. Promote the use of trails and pathways in active living educational programs. 6. Support affiliated organization, groups, towns and municipalities that advance the above goals. 7. Establish a library of reference material. 8. Support the development of trails and pathways through the community development model. 9. Recognize human powered forms of travel. We re on the Web Support each other, share information, and develop strategies to create a common voice for our goals. NSPACTS Provincial Policy Statement for the Rails to Trails Corridor Goal Statement: The goal of NSPACTS is to promote the development and maintenance of an Active Transportation (nonmotorized) trail network on the former rail lines of Nova Scotia. We think this nonmotorized status should be formally designated under the provincial trails act. Consistent with other Maritime Provinces, NSPACTS envisages the Rails to Trails, Trans Canada Trail, AT Corridor as the principle alternative transportation trail corridor connecting Nova Scotia Communities.