Michiana Regional Greenway Visioning Charette Resources and Guidelines

Wednesday, April 27, 2005Purdue University

Prof. Bernie Dahl

Megan DrydenJon Guard

Nina HerskedalSarah Metz

April Townsend

Greenways: the what and howo What is a greenway?

o Corridors of open space managed for conservation and recreational purposes

o The linking network between regionally significant community assets

o Steps to be taken

o Inventory existing natural features, parks, trails and infrastructure

o Inventory and map destination points to serve as nodes

o Get citizens involved in the process so they support the plan through the project

o Follow hierarchy of trail preferences when choosing greenway routes

Greenways: the benefitso Economic Benefits

o Newly created trail related jobs and expansion of existing businesses along trails

o Property values along trails increase

o Many corporations seek corporate headquarter with access to trails.

o Homebuyers ranked trails as an important community amenity.

o Conservation and Ecological Benefits

o Greenways serve as habitat and a corridor for animals to migrate

o Greenways serve as a buffer or barrier for ecological sensitive areas

o Greenways reduce pollution by filtering runoff and by reducing vehicular travel.

Greenways: the benefitso Educational and Cultural Benefits

o Rail-trails and canal paths along historic corridors provide a glance at historic travel

o Draw public to culturally historic sites giving a sense of historically significant sites like battlefields and native settlements.

o Transportation Benefits

o Provide corridors for non-motorized travel between home, work, school, businesses, and community attractions.

o Safe alternative to travel along busy roadways

o Reduce pollution and congestion related to short errands to local destinations.

o Recreation and Health Benefits

o Safe, inexpensive avenue for regular exercise

o Offer opportunities for wide variety of recreation close to home

Greenways: the benefitso Trail and Corridor types:

o Water Trails

o Multi-Use Trails

o Wildlife Corridors

o Utility Corridors

o Rails-to-Trails program

Water Trailso What are water trails?

o Navigable passageways that mainly consist of water – such as:

o Streamso Riverso Lakes/lakeshoreo Ocean coastline

o Non-navigable waterways:o Canalso Seasonal creeks, streams

(those which are often dry)o Privately-owned waterwayso Polluted waters

Water Trailso Ecological significance

o Riparian zones are a crucial part of the landscape by:

o Moderating the flow of water

o Filtering nutrients and sediment from runoff

o Helping to regulate the water temperature

o Stabilizing banks

o Providing food and habitat for aquatic communities

Water Trailso How can we use them?

o Navigable waterways are those which may be utilized for many different types of recreation

o Canoes

o Kayaks

o Inner-tubes

o Man-powered boats

o Motorized boats

o Water recreational vehicles (Jet Ski/Wave Runner)

Water Trailso Community questions…

o Where are waterways located?

o Who owns the waterway as well as the bordering land?

o Is the water easily accessible?

o What signage and/or orientation devices exist in waterways currently used for recreational purposes?

o What accommodating facilities currently exist for water trail users?

Multi-use Trailso What are multi-use trails?

o Trails which can accommodate for multiple or mixed uses, such as:

o Hiking

o Bicycling

o Walking

o Jogging

o Horseback riding

o Winter sports

o Cross country skiing

o Snow-shoeing

o All-terrain vehicles/Off-highway vehicles (ATV/OHV)

o Four-wheelers

o Snowmobiles

Multi-use Trailso What do they connect and

link?

o Cities and towns

o Historic sites and museums

o Schools

o Parks

o Shopping areas

o Fairgrounds

o Waterways

Multi-use Trailso Linking can be achieved by

o Bridges

o Parks

o Standard/unified paving materials, signage, lighting, trailheads

o Information kiosks

o Picnic shelters

o Bicycle and pedestrian

o Interpretive trails and explanatory signage

o Parking hubs

o Rental facilities for bicycles, ATVs

o Water bodies (lakes, rivers, streams)

o Views

Multi-use Trailso Community questions

o Where are existing/proposed trails?

o Where are logical connecting points?

o Schools

o Town centers

o Parks

Utility Corridorso What are utility corridors?

o Land that has been allocated for utility lines

o Utility corridors may consist of aboveground or underground utilities lines such as:

o Pipelineso Electrical Lineso Gas and Oil Transmission

Pipelineso Fiber Optic Cable Lines

Utility Corridorso Potential Uses

o Utility line property can be converted into multi-use corridors available for both public and private use

o Utility corridors provide a linear, fairly unobstructed and undeveloped corridor that is very useful for incorporating future trail development

Utility Corridorso Issues and Concerns

o Many companies have come to the realization that the public will in one way or another use their corridors, whether they are managed or not

o This is an incentive to make these right-of-ways available for public recreation by managing the properties surrounding the utilities

o Additional Concerns

o Public safety

o Increased crime

o Increased vandalism

o Lack of a defined management entity

o Lack of funding sources

Utility Corridorso NIPSCO

o The Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO) is one of Northern Indiana’s leading utility companies

o As of 2004, NIPSCO had developed more miles of off-road trails than any other utility company in Indiana

o NIPSCO has modified and redefined its criteria for trail development within its utility corridors, giving potential planners consistent guidelines for the use of these corridors

Utility Corridorso Funding

o Developing public trails along utility corridors requires ongoing cooperation and planning between the trail or city agency and the utility company in order to minimize operation and maintenance impacts

o The key to receiving grant money for utility corridors and other trail systems is defining the trail as a “transportation trail”

Wildlife Corridorso What are wildlife corridors?

o Corridors are segments of land which link critical wildlife habitats

o The pathways which animals take to migrate from one island of habitat to the next

o Why are wildlife corridors important?o They allow species to migrate and

intermingle so that survival of the species can continue

o Development is increasing the loss of natural spaces – fragmenting these spaces – leading to the degradation of water resources and the ability for nature to respond to change

Wildlife Corridorso How to identify existing and

potential wildlife corridorso It is important to design

greenways so that they can stand as effective wildlife conduits and corridors

o Some important factors to determine are:

o widtho continual linkso outside disturbanceo riparian proximityo quality

Wildlife Corridorso Guidelines for designing

greenways to provide for habitat

o Habitat:

o Identify the needs of the most sensitive species

o Conduits:

o Concentrate on matching natural characteristics of the landscape

o For the most part, greenways will not, by themselves, provide good habitat. Therefore, do not allow greenways projects to proceed at the expense of other initiatives, which will provide habitat, such as large reserves.

Rails-to-Trails program“Creating a nationwide network of trails

from former rail lines and connecting corridors to build healthier places for

healthier people.”

- Motto of Rails-to-Trails Conservancy

o The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy has successfully been able to organize and implement hundreds of trails across the United States

o RTC has the ability to acquire and own corridors or acquire corridors on behalf of third parties

Rails-to-Trails programo Rail-trails boast unique features which

contribute to the wide variety of users who use them for their individual activities and interests:

o Accessibilityo People with physical disabilities have an

opportunity to safely exercise and enjoy these unique natural settings due to the standard, flat grade of rail-trails

o Bird-watching

o Cross country skiing

o Cycling

o Fishingo Rail-trails frequently provide the

quickest and easiest access to some of the premier fishing spots across the country

o Horseback riding

o Inline skating

o Running

o Snowmobiles

o Walking

Questions…