Rails to Trails Gets on Track
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Rails to Trails Gets on Track
By Shane Gilreath
Supporters for the Rails-to-Trails initiative have gotten back on track by advocating the project to a Knoxville-based adventure company. “Smoky Mountain Wheelmen” hosted the trail’s proponents last Monday, as plans for the controversial 41-mile proposal looks to gain momentum, both locally and across the region. While local landowners largely sit in opposition, local supporters formed the Echoes of TN Rails Committee to study and support the rail initiative with plans for the development to meander along the old Tennessee Railroad corridor that runs from Oneida through Winona and Norma into Devonia, near Frozen Head State Park. Rail-to-Trail developments, however, are not new inventions. The Federal Government established the Rails-to-Trails Act of 1983 to enable communities to create usable public spaces, developing former rail lands into beneficial community projects as opposed to leaving the rail corridors dormant and overgrown. These plans re-imagine abandoned railroads as walking and cycling trails to preserve historical and natural sights around the region. Since 1983, such recreational developments have sprung up across the southeast, most notably the Virginia Creeper Trail, to which the local plan is most often compared. In Virginia, the trail has boosted tourist spending exponentially, generating $1.6 million in total economic growth, supporting 27 jobs and $610,000 in labor earnings.
Proponents, however, see some urgency. Currently, outside companies are looking to purchase the land, Ralph Trieschmann, a local proponent told SCN in April, suggesting that if Scott County does not develop the track recreationally, other companies will purchase and develop the RJ Corman-owned property.
While Scott County Mayor Jerried Jeffers – who was presented with petitions with more than 200 opponents earlier in the year – has been critical of the movement, he has equally said that, “Ultimately, it’s private property, and it’s a private company.”
Mayor Lori Phillips-Jones of Oneida, who has indicated support for the proposal, also has expressed concern for opponents who reside along the track. “It’s important to us that we protect the landowners,” Mayor Phillips-Jones said.
