Tweetsie Trail still a twinkle in someone's eye (Johnson City, Elizabethton: rail, design)

[rccrain]

This is pretty dang awesome. Where will the "start" and "finish" be?

If it starts near downtown/connects to ETSU this could be exactly what you "downtowners" have been hoping for.

[kamoshika]

Originally Posted by rccrain

This is pretty dang awesome. Where will the "start" and "finish" be?

If it starts near downtown/connects to ETSU this could be exactly what you "downtowners" have been hoping for.

The trail would start in downtown Johnson City...at Alabama Street near the Legion Street Recreation Center. It would run east through Johnson City and Washington County to Carter County, through downtown Elizabethton, and end near Valley Forge between Elizabethton and Hampton.
Tweetsie Historic Trail Association: Tweetsie Trail News

Alabama St. is 0.9 miles from the Hands On Museum.

[jabogitlu]

I wish they'd extend the trail a little, even if they had to fudge the end of it a bit, and make the trailhead the old train depot. You could have showers, bike rentals, etc. there. Just not sure who'd own it and who'd pay for it.

[SarahSal]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

I wish they'd extend the trail a little, even if they had to fudge the end of it a bit, and make the trailhead the old train depot. You could have showers, bike rentals, etc. there. Just not sure who'd own it and who'd pay for it.

What a stupendous idea, Jab! I would think the JCDA (if they're smart) should be open to leasing spaces in the depot for precisely those kinds of correlating businesses.

How I wish there were a main clearing house for all the wonderful ideas that come from folks who care about the city. Part of the deal would be that CITIZENS (a *real* citizens council?) not politicians would be able to pick which ideas would work best to make a real difference. I bet we'd see some action then!

(Just a note, but one other city person who always did seem open to ideas and willing to listen was Phil Pindzola)..

[jchometeam]

Anyone else on here think this is a bit silly? Sounds like I am in the large minority here, but paying 600,000 for this seems crazy to me. Sure, if the land was given to the city (or nearly free), it might be worth it to some of the local cyclists. But paying 600,000 of my tax money for the few people that would use this trail is irresponsible, in my humble opinion.

If they are going to do this, I would rather see them tie it in with the Depot, like was previously suggested. I am all about redeveloping downtown, and the Depot, and I am really excited about the University Edge apartments/ETSU stadium, but if I would have never voted for purchasing this land especially for this amount.

[rccrain]

Ever been to the Creeper Trail? Over time this will generate a lot more revenue than $600k. Brilliant move by the city.

[rccrain]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

I wish they'd extend the trail a little, even if they had to fudge the end of it a bit, and make the trailhead the old train depot. You could have showers, bike rentals, etc. there. Just not sure who'd own it and who'd pay for it.

This is what I was hoping too. Although it should still be easy enough to do.

#1 connect the trail to the depot with everything you mentioned.
#2 connect the depot to the university.

If I'm not turned around, this would also greatly benefit W Walnut, as you, Sarah, et al were mentioning in another thread. My only concern is that bicyclists might want the nature aspect more so than the city aspect.

[SarahSal]

Originally Posted by rccrain

This is what I was hoping too. Although it should still be easy enough to do.

#1 connect the trail to the depot with everything you mentioned.
#2 connect the depot to the university.

If I'm not turned around, this would also greatly benefit W Walnut, as you, Sarah, et al were mentioning in another thread. My only concern is that bicyclists might want the nature aspect more so than the city aspect.

Agreed! The future benefits of this (especially if they make the aforementioned connections) will far outweigh the cost of this purchase. It has the potential to change the entire face of the downtown and its surrounding areas and actually make the city core a very inviting place to visit.. I do hope that's the intent!

[kamoshika]

JCDA treasurer David Tomita seems to get the bigger picture:

Tomita’s other reason for supporting the endeavor is the depot’s location. It sits at the east end of the corridor linking East Tennessee State University to downtown, and JCDA members have long seen that linkage as a key to downtown’s viability.

As evidence of the potential, he ticks off a litany of projects taking shape along the corridor — the new “Warehouse Park,” University Edge Apartments and ETSU baseball stadium on the north side of State of Franklin, and a new walking/biking trail and renovation of the old General Mills property on the south side.

“Everything that’s going on in that whole corridor is just coming to life, and you tie that in to the Tweetsie Trail and bring them all to a head at the (CC&O) station, and there’s tremendous potential there.”
JohnsonCityPress.com - Local News - Johnson City, TN (http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:L4chk4INphwJ:www.johnsoncitypress.c om/News/article.php%3FID%3D75274&hl=en&strip=1 - broken link)

[jabogitlu]

I just sent an email to several members of the city government and the JCDA. Maybe if we push hard enough, we can get more people thinking about this issue. If anybody wants to see the message I sent, or who I sent it to, send me a PM. Come on guys, let's do this!