Pam Dudding
Contributing writer
There have been many comments, complaints and some approvals of the new trail being proposed from Craig County into Botetourt County.
The most outspoken group, however, seems to be against its approval.
The people in Botetourt County are speaking out.
“It all started at the end of January ’23, when the articles about a new trail hit the general public. A press release by the counties involved created a major stir among the residents, especially in the center of the proposed trail,” Jim Stadtlander shared. “At this epicenter is Oriskany, whose residents wanted to find out what was true in these articles, and what was false. Within a few weeks of that, “DeRail the Trail” was born, the idea being a spin-off from the group that fought the trail initiative 23 years ago and won. Can they do it again? That depends on the will power of the people of today. They are now seeking your help.”
The “DeRail the Trail” feels that this will affect everyone, not just the landowners along it, increasing property taxes throughout the counties.
“It’s using State money garnered through taxes,” Stadtlander said. “EMS, fire, and police services will be affected, having to either expand (adding cost to residents), or lose quality of response time for all as a result of calls into remote areas that will be converted to trail use.”
He added, “Perimeter country road traffic will increase, as well as the traffic on main roads going to New Castle and Eagle Rock, and the roads used for shuttles between the two towns. Safety issues will arise. Hunting areas will be affected. This list can go on and on. It will affect all of us.”
It has been stated that the current price tag for this, listed by the Commonwealth Transportation Board as of May 15, is at $30 million and climbing.
“At this cost, it will have to pull in a lot of trail users in order to be successful. The officials driving this think it would be great if it could be like the Virginia Creeper Trail in Damascus,” he explained. “That trail gets 250,000 users per year. That’s around 700 people a day! Five times the population census count of New Castle, every day. How can that not affect our infrastructure? Do you really want to live in a tourist town?”
“But this is all speculation. Why? Those same officials have not bothered doing a feasibility study to determine how many people will use this proposed trail. They are making claims about how wonderful it will be without first getting that data,” Stadtlander asked. “The General Assembly has even decided to spend a million dollars (and is currently spending that) to develop a trail plan, without this feasibility study. Wouldn’t you be required to know this if you were thinking of a business? Know your market?”
They question if there will be only 500 people who use it a year, or 250,000.
“The fact is, they want this trail. Doesn’t matter if it makes sense or not,” Stadtlander said. “Someone, in a high position, has decided that this is what the people want. “The State owns the property, and the State will do with it what it wants to.” They are forgetting that the State should be run by the people, for the people. Not by special interest groups. Was a poll taken of the people? No. They asked the county administrations. Did they in turn ask the residents? Did we miss that memo?”
He explained that the railroad bed is currently a roadway, or a good portion of it is.
“Within the 26-mile length, approx. 17 miles is used by vehicles. That’s more than just ‘some’ as early reports had indicated, and it’s far from being an abandoned railway,” he added. “Some of that roadway is narrow, one vehicle wide. The trail itself will be on these roadways, or so we’ve heard. There is no room for expanding to have a trail lane only. They are gravel roads, full of dust and what you should expect on any road. Eleven miles are actually in the state highway, secondary road system. Not the ‘greenway’ one expects when they envision a “trail” – far from it. VDOT actually has recommendations online for how to make a safe trail, but they are breaking their own rules to make this happen. So why create it?”
Residents of both counties know that the Craig Creek Rd (Rt. 615) is the only state road in and out of Oriskany.
“This road is often blocked off by fallen trees or by Craig Creek flooding. When the creek does flood, it covers Rt. 615 on both sides of Oriskany, leaving it as an island. That creates a scenario of more than 100 residents trapped in (or out),” Stadtlander shared. “Three miles of the railroad bed serves as an emergency road to get in or out when this happens. This section of the railroad bed is not in the state road system but should be. All of these residents are being threatened by a gate that would restrict its use to trail users only. A disaster waiting to happen.”
“DeRail the Trail” is not against horseback riding, bicycling or hiking.
They shared that a good percentage of its members participate in these activities.
“What we want is safe trails, responsible spending, and to maintain the same quality of life for everyone,” he said.
For more information about DeRail the Trail, contact the group on Facebook at DeRail the Trail // Oriskany, by website at www.DeRailtheTrail.org, or by email at [email protected]
