{"id":161344782,"date":"2010-02-11T09:59:42","date_gmt":"2010-02-11T09:59:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/?p=161344782"},"modified":"2010-02-11T09:59:42","modified_gmt":"2010-02-11T09:59:42","slug":"garrett-trails-helps-government-get-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/?p=161344782","title":{"rendered":"Garrett Trails Helps Government ‘Get It’"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a supporter of Garrett Trails This is great news!!! I sit in on the board meetings and know first hand how valuable this trail system and some help can be for Garrett County and Deep Creek Lake. Dont forget Taste of Garrett May 17, 2010.
\n This article is from the CUMBERLAND TIMES
\nMountain Marylanders back governor\u2019s plan for state trail network
\nKevin Spradlin
\nCUMBERLAND \u2014 The mountain side of Maryland and those living closer to metropolitan centers can at least agree on one thing \u2014 there is value when investing in local trail systems.
\nWith many legislative initiatives, there often is a split on what is good for one part of the state and what is good for Mountain Maryland.
\nThis time, \u201cI think the two sides do agree,\u201d said Bill Atkinson on Friday, two days after Gov. Martin O\u2019Malley announced the state\u2019s first Maryland Trails: A Greener Way To Go plan.
\nThe development of the plan was spearheaded by the state Department of Transportation. It focuses on a long-term projection of how a seamless trail network throughout the state can increase commuter options. Atkinson works for the Maryland Department of Planning and is a local representative for the Pennsylvania-based Trail Towns Program. He also is appointed as an advisory member to the Garrett Trails organization by the Garrett County commissioners.
\nAtkinson said the annual PACE reception in Annapolis about a week ago, where both Garrett Trails and the Allegany County-based Mountain Maryland Trails organization collaborated on a booth to showcase their positive economic impact, was \u201cthe first time we really joined forces.\u201d
\n\u201cWe received a lot of interest at PACE with the combined booth,\u201d said Mike Dreisbach, Mountain Maryland Trails president. \u201cIt looks like MMT and Garrett Trails can help the governor add about another 200 miles to make it 1,000 miles in Maryland.\u201d
\nAtkinson, an avid bicyclist, said people already are using portions of the 20.47-mile Great Allegheny Passage in Allegany County as a commuting option on good-weather days. The gradual decline from Frostburg east to Cumberland provides an easy ride to work, he said.
\n\u201cWe found that to be one of those sidebars to the trail experience,\u201d Atkinson said. \u201cIt\u2019s easy to get to work that way. It\u2019s recreation, it\u2019s transportation and it\u2019s economic development.\u201d
\nState officials appear eager to agree.
\n\u201cWorking together, we can create a great transportation trails network that takes residents to where they need to go by bicycle or foot without ever having to get into their cars,\u201d said Transportation Secretary Beverley Swaim-Staley in a news release.
\n
\nAtkinson said a key goal of local stakeholders is to connect the Great Allegheny Passage to Garrett County \u2014 possibly from Penn Alps Restaurant in Grantsville to the GAP in Meyersdale, Pa., by way of the Casselman River railroad. Another top priority is to connect the Great Allegheny Passage to the Georges Creek communities along state Route 36, into West Virginia then back in Maryland in Kitzmiller.
\n\u201cYou know, the longer we can get the person to stay in the area, the better it is for Western Maryland,\u201d Atkinson said. \u201cThis is a regional concept of trails.\u201d
\nAtkinson said there is a chance that the towns of Lonaconing, Barton and Midland can all connect to the existing railroad bed before it fully connects to Frostburg and the Great Allegheny Passage.
\nhttps:\/\/detailsdeepcreek.blogspot.com\/2010\/02\/garrett-trails-helps-government-get-it.html<\/a>oldId.20100211095942485<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a supporter of Garrett Trails This is great news!!! I sit in on the board meetings and know first hand how valuable this trail system and some help can be for Garrett County and Deep Creek Lake. Dont forget Taste of Garrett May 17, 2010. This article is from the CUMBERLAND TIMES Mountain Marylanders … <\/p>\n

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