2007 UPDATE TO THE ROANOKE VALLEY CONCEPTUAL GREENWAY PLAN Produced by Roanoke Valley Greenway Commission and Roanoke Valley- Alleghany Regional Commission In cooperation with City of Roanoke, City of Salem, Roanoke County, and the Town of Vinton TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements Executive Summary 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Impetus for Updating the Plan 1 1.2 Terminology: What is a Greenway? 1.3 Benefits of Greenways 2.0 Status of the Roanoke Valley Greenway Program 2.1 Establishment of the Greenway Program 2.2 Greenway Partners 2 2.3 Summary of 1995 Conceptual Greenway Plan 2.4 Progress on the 1995 Plan 3.0 Purpose and Process for the Update 3.1 Need for Update to the 1995 Conceptual Greenway Plan 3.2 Description of the Study Area 3 3.3 Funding of the Update 3.4 Establishment of a Steering Committee 3.5 Procurement of Professional Greenway Planning Services 3.6 Community Involvement 4.0 Community Involvement and Input 4.1 Public Input Meetings 4.2 Input from Elected Officials and Staff 4 4.3 Corporate Input 4.4 Input from Other Sources 4.5 Discussion of Issues 4.6 Goals 5.0 Greenway Network 5.1 Prioritization of Greenways 5.2 Priority #1 Roanoke River Greenway 5 5.3 Priority #2 Greenways 5.4 Priority #3 Greenways 5.5 Priority #4 Greenways 5.6 On-road Connections TABLE OF CONTENTS (CONTINUED) 6.0 Implementation Strategies Greenway Construction Funding 6 Land Acquisition Community Outreach and Education Organizational Structure Greenway Management Goals and Objectives from 1995 Plan Appendices A. Bibliography A B. Intergovernmental Agreement C. Public Input D. Case Studies E. On-road Routes from the Bikeway Plan Acknowledgements This plan was prepared by the Roanoke Valley Greenw ay Commission and Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission, in cooperation with the City of Roanoke, Roanoke County, City of Salem, and Town of Vinton, Virginia. Consultant services were provided by LandDesign, Inc. Funding was provided by the Virginia Department of Transportation, Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission, and Roanoke Valley Greenway Commission. Inquiries should be directed to: Shane Sawyer, Regional Planner Liz Belcher, Greenway Coordinator Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission Roanoke Valley Greenway Commission P.O. Box 2569 1206 Kessler Mill Road Roanoke, VA 24010 Salem, VA 24153 540-343-4417 540-387-6060 Project Consultant: LandDesign, Inc. 223 North Graham Street PO Box 36959 Charlotte, NC 28236 704-333-0325 Steering Committee: Liz Belcher Janet Scheid Roanoke Valley Greenway Coordinator Roanoke County, Community Development Department Cristina Finch City of Roanoke, Planning Division Ian Shaw City of Roanoke, Planning Division Bill Gordge Pathfinders for Greenways Benjamin Tripp City of Salem, Planning Department Michael Gray Virginia Department of Transportation Donnie Underwood City of Roanoke, Parks and Recreation Department Anita McMillan Town of Vinton, Planning and Zoning Department Lon Williams Roanoke County, Department of Parks, Recreation, Linda Oberlender and Tourism Pathfinders for Greenways Donald Witt Shane Sawyer Roanoke Valley Greenway Commission Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission Update to the Roanoke Valley Conceptual Greenway Plan • 2007 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In 2005 the Roanoke Valley Greenway Commission and Roanoke Valley- Alleghany Regional Commission, in partnership with the City of Roanoke, Roanoke County, the City of Salem, and the Town of Vinton, decided to update the 1995 Conceptual Greenway Plan, Roanoke Valley, Virginia. They obtained a grant from the Virginia Department of Transportation to help fund the project, set up a Steering Committee with representatives from the four localities, and in 2006 began the process of updating the plan. The update had two components: • An update to the routes included in the 1995 Plan and prioritization of those routes. The Steering Committee directed this effort and the results are included in this document, 2007 Update to the Roanoke Valley Conceptual Greenway Plan. • An organizational assessment of the roles and responsibilities of the various partners. This was completed by a consultant, LandDesign, Inc., and is encapsulated in a separate volume for internal use. This document has several parts: • A summary of the progress on greenways since 1995, • Discussion of the issues raised by the public and others during the update process, • Prioritization of the greenway routes and information on each, and • Implementation strategies. Based on the public input and update process, the focus for the next five years will be to finish the Roanoke River Greenway. Secondary priorities will be those north-south routes that are already underway and will provide connections from Roanoke River Greenway to other public lands. The goal is to finish these in five to ten years. Other routes are listed but will be pursued only as opportunity arises. Implementation of this plan will require continued cooperation among the many partners and will offer opportunity for all of the community to be involved. The vision of finishing the Roanoke River Greenway has been a resounding theme echoed from the citizens and corporations of the valley. The dream is laid out herein and challenges all the partners to focus efforts, not on planning, but on implementation. Update to the Roanoke Valley Conceptual Greenway Plan • 2007 1.0 Introduction 1-1 1.1 Impetus for Updating the Plan 1-1 1.2 Terminology: What is Greenway? 1-1 1.3 Benefits of Greenways 1-2 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Impetus for Updating the Plan The 1995 Conceptual Greenway Plan, Roanoke Valley, Virginia (1995 Plan) was developed and adopted by the City of Roanoke, Roanoke Count y, City of Salem, and Town of Vinton. That plan launched development of a regional greenway network and establishment of the Roanoke Valley Greenway Commission (Greenway Commission). 1.0 Introduction In 2005 the Greenway Commission decided it was time to update the 1995 Plan and sought assistance from the Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission (Regional Commission) to do so. There were numerous reasons to update the document, but the driving force was a desire to look at how the process of getting greenways built might be improved. The Greenway Commission and Regional Commission decided that the update should include two components: 1) an update and prioritization of routes included in the 1995 Plan, and 2) an organizational assessment examining roles and responsibilities of various partners. A Steering Committee of local staff and partners was formed to address the first task, to update and prioritize the routes. This document, the 2007 Update to the Roanoke Valley Conceptual Greenway Plan (the Update), is the result of the Steering Committee’s work. It describes the accomplishments since 1995, the process of developing the update, public input and issues, routes, and recommendations for implementation. A consultant, LandDesign, Inc., was hired to address the second task of assessing the organization and recommending improvements to the way in which the Greenway Commission operated and the partners interacted. That assessment was considered in development of the Update and in the implementation strategies presented in Section 6. 1.2 Terminology: What is a Greenway? In his 1990 book Greenways for America Charles Little recounts the origins of the greenway idea and traces a century of dev elopment of the greenway movement. He recognizes that any group of greenway advocates will undoubtedly have multiple definitions of a greenway or even different words for the concepts. Common t hemes in the greenway movement are green Update to the Roanoke Valley Conceptual Greenway Plan • 2007 1-1 space, connections, conservation, non-motoriz ed transportation, linear trails, ecology, and sustainable development. While the terminology of this movement varies from one state or country to another, the Roanoke Valley’s development of the 1995 Plan included a strong focus on the “trail” within the greenway corridor. Since development of the 1995 Plan, the Regional Commission and four local governments have each developed other plans, many of which incorporate the ideas of open space, green space, bluew ays, and green infrastructure. M any of these recent plans 1.0 Introduction recognize the importance of green space for environmental protection, wildlife habitat, and stormwater management. Each locality has refi ned its preferences and t he degree to which its greenways focus on pedestrian/bicycle facilities and green infrastructure elements. The Greenway Commission encourages and supports each locality’s efforts to develop greenways, trails, and green infrastructure. Bec ause citizens typically equate greenways with trails, the focus in this regional Update to the 1995 Plan is on those corridors that will include a public trail. Thus, the definit ion that is used encompasses t he transportation, recreation, and green infrastructure elements and mirrors the terminology of citizens: Greenways are linear parks, corridors of natural or open space: • following land or water features such as streams, rivers, canals, utility corridors, ridgelines, or rail lines and • managed for conservation, recreation, and/or alternative transportation and • including trails for pedestrians, bicyclists, and other trail users. 1.3 Benefits of Greenways The benefits of greenways are we ll documented in a variety of publications on greenways and trails listed in the Bibliography (Appendix A) and in the 1995 Plan. The 1995 Plan included objectives and strategies for meeting goals a ssociated with these benef its, and the progress on those is included in Section 2.4.7 of this Update. The benefits of greenways include: Transportation Greenway trails provide corridors for moving from one location to another without an automobile. Economic Greenways strengthen the local economy by increasing property Opportunities values, enticing businesses concerned with quality of life for employees, stimulating community revitalization, and creating jobs related to recreation and tourism. 1-2 Update to the Roanoke Valley Conceptual Greenway Plan • 2007 Health and Greenways provide free facilities for exercising, and most of the Recreation valley’s greenway trails are handi capped accessible.