Newton Trails

No Trail Talk Blog posts in over a month...  Wow, am I ever ashamed.  While I'm seldom -- OK, never -- at a loss for words, it does get tiring telling the same story over and over.  Then, along comes a video like the one below to snap me out of it.  This, my friends, is what it's all about...

Over 100 miles of greenways and off-street walking and biking paths, a successful and growing public bike share program, and an outdoor community filled with people from every walk of life -- out connecting with nature and with one another.  It takes vision and leadership to create what cities like Minneapolis have today.  You might think we lack that kind of vision in Newton County.  Well, yes and no...

In 2008, the Newton County Board of Commissioners adopted an updated Comprehensive Plan/Community Agenda for the two decades leading to 2028.  That plan, available here, is filled with clear, pointed statements about the importance of walking and biking to the community and the need for better facilities.  "Though the County has a bicycle plan, the need remains for more multi-use trails for walking and biking,"  reads the section on Transportation Opportunities.  And, the Transportation Strategies section includes an item calling on the County to:  "Expand pedestrian and bicycle facilities within recommended activity centers as part of all new development, and in support of the County Greenways Plan."

The section on Natural and Cultural Resources states:  "A greenspace plan, which identified opportune areas for trails and greenways, was created shortly after the County’s April 2000 Comprehensive Plan Update. This plan has stimulated greater levels of interest in trails and greenspace as both community assets and tools for natural resource preservation. Further efforts should be made to implement the plan and keep it up-todate.  The County has purchased several tracts of land for preservation, but more can be done."

The plan is filled from front to back with repeated references to trails and greenways in nearly every character area and development node.  To reinforce this point, we've accumulated an inventory of those references.  You can find it here.

Remember, the Newton County Board of Commissioners adopted this plan unanimously, on a motion made by Commissioner Mort Ewing and seconded by Commissioner Monty Laster.  The City of Covington has very similar strategies and plans in its Comprehensive Plan adopted in 2007.  The vision has always been there, supported time and again by citizen input.  What has been lost is the connection of our Commissioners and our Council Members to that vision.

These are the questions you need to be asking those running for election or reelection to these posts.  Do they remember the vision, and are they willing to work hard to make it a reality?  The choice is simple.  We can aim for the top, or we can fall aimlessly to the bottom.

On Wednesday, I attended a quarterly meeting of the Northeast Georgia Regional Commission's (NEGRC) Bicycle & Pedestrian Task Force.  The NEGRC is to the 12 counties around Athens what the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) is the metro Atlanta area.  Newton County is part of the Northeast Region.

At yesterday's meeting we were joined for the first time by the Mayor of Good Hope, George Garrett.  Mayor Garrett spoke enthusiastically to task force members about the great big things going on in the little town of Good Hope (population 289 people).

While small in population and land area (1.8 square miles), Good Hope is a sizeable landmark in the region's cycling community.  Situated at the junction of GA highways 83 and 186, the town is a crossroads linking popular cycling routes in the Rockdale/Newton/Walton County area to those frequented by cyclists out of Athens.  On any given Saturday, and many weekdays as well, you'll find hungry, thirsty riders sitting outside the Good Hope General Store, enjoying a homemade biscuit and a swig of Gatorade.

Every April, the town's population swells several hundred percent with the influx of riders participating in the annual Tony Serrano Century Ride.  The roads around Good Hope are fantastically good for bike riding, which leads to the town being prominently featured in rides like the Serrano.

So, with the Mayor's enthusiastic support, along with Serrano Ride Director Paul Jones and DeDe Harris at Walton Wellness, an incredible program is taking shape that will cement and enhance Good Hope's place on the Georgia cycling map.  The Walton Road Share project  is identifying and publishing popular cycling routes on the program web site.  And, Walton Wellness is developing a "wellness ride" to promote cycling as a healthy activity for county residents.  Along the way, the city will also be seeking grants to build a welcome center/comfort station for cyclists and encouraging more events to start/finish in Good Hope.

"Good Hope:  Happy to Share Our Roads."  That's the slogan on the Walton Road Share web site.  And, I loved how Mayor Garrett explained it as I talked to him after Wednesday's task force meeting...

"These rides bring over a thousand cyclists through our town," he said.  "And, when they leave, there isn't a piece of trash left anywhere.  We love having the cyclists.  We want them to continue coming and to stay longer with us"

Good Hope is a town that gets it.  And, that means more hope for the rest of us.

For more information on the NEGRC Bike/Ped task force, see the most recent Regional Plan for Biking & Walking.

Riding with two friends Sunday afternoon on the final leg of the Covington Community Bike Ride, we were chatting about public health, the role of trails in providing a response to the growing American obesity epidemic, and the difficulty of getting folks to see the connection.  "Personal health is a choice," one said.

And, that started me thinking.  (I do actually do that from time to time, despite what some might say.)  Just what kind of choice are we really giving people?

Since 2009, Newton County has added 33 acres of recreation space.  We've built 1.2 miles of paved trails in Oxford (largely with private funds and investment by the city and college).  Oh, and we've added some 40,000 people in the past decade!  We fall farther behind every day, while our county lags at the bottom in most public health measures, in a state that is near the bottom nationally.

Meanwhile, we've gone from one McDonalds to five -- soon to be six.  My parents live in Dunwoody, and they have to drive several miles or more to find most fast food restaurants.  We can find multiples of most chains within walking distance.  Not that walking is an option, mind you, with US-278, the Covington By-Pass, Washington Street, Brown Bridge Rd, Salem Rd, GA-36, and GA-212 all presenting quite formidable barriers to travel by foot or by bike.  Sure, people can choose, but the combination of fast food proliferation and streets designed for auto-only travel determines what the realistic choices are.

Recently, a Cobb County woman was prosecuted for vehicular manslaughter -- even though she didn't own and could not drive a car!   She was prosecuted and convicted by a jury because she chose to cross a busy five-lane highway with her three kids, rather than walking an extra 6/10ths of a mile at sundown to get home to her apartment complex just across the street from the bus stop.  When her youngest broke away and was struck and killed by a driver with prior hit and run convictions, who confessed to drinking and taking painkillers that day, the mother was prosecuted.  Her choice, right?

These are the kinds of choices we give pedestrians and bicyclists every day.  We engineer our roads to be dangerous by design.  We place unhealthy food choices on every corner.  And, we treat funding for safe walking and biking like it's a precious commodity of which the public is just not worthy.  Healthy living is a choice, you know.  Kind of like dissidents  speaking out in China, or women's rights advocates speaking out in Iraq or Iran...  It's a choice.  A sad an unnecessary choice.

Picture yourself in a boat on a river... 

Dozens of folks did just that Saturday in Porterdale, coming to the banks of the Yellow River to enjoy motorized and/or paddle-powered boat rides up river north of the Mill.  Thanks to dedicated volunteers Lamar and Kimberly Brown, Fred Franklin, and Cheryl Delk, such outings may soon be just another day in the life of a thriving town bustling with canoeists, kayakers, paddle boarders, cyclists, hikers, joggers, and walkers.

I arrived a little after the noon hour Saturday to find Lamar teaching a young man of 14 from Porterdale how to paddle a kayak.  Meanwhile, Fred was giving a father and his three sons a john boat tour up river and back along the shoals by the mill.  Amid it all, a young Covington man was practicing his paddle board skills in the calm waters around the bridge.

Kimberly Brown is spearheading a volunteer group to preserve and protect the Yellow River watershed for outdoor recreation, with objectives to keep the river clean and establish put in and take out points for a "blueway" trail along the river.  But, it's not all fun and games.  When the paddling was over Saturday, Lamar, Fred, and others were headed back upstream to pick up the trash and debris spotted along the shoreline.

Newton Trails is partnering with the Yellow River Preservation & Conservation Group, the City of Porterdale, and many other stakeholder groups -- with the objective of rallying support for a Yellow River Park within the 27-acres of riverside property owned today by the City of Porterdale.  Porterdale has twice secured Transportation Enhancement grants from the Georgia Department of Transportation to renovate the historic train depot as a trail head and construct a section of paved trail from Broad St to the existing loop trail by the river.  And, Newton County has plans to build the Yellow River/Turkey Creek trail connecting Porterdale to Turner Lake Park in Covington.  Together, in partnership, we are aggressively seeking additional grants, private donations, and corporate contributions make the park a reality.

It's a grand project in tough times -- especially in Porterdale.  But, it's a project with such incredible potential to transform the historic mill town and create an outdoor recreation destination to draw active tourists from all over north Georgia and beyond.

Close your eyes, and it's easy to imagine what might be.  I'm not seeing marshmallow trees or tangerine skies, but I can easily envision a park where "Everyone smiles as you drift past the flowers, That grow so incredibly high."

In Porterdale, they dare to dream and they care enough to act.  The world needs such places.  Come join us and make it happen!

Sometimes, in Newton County, it's hard not to feel we're living on a different planet or in a parallel universe, separate from the all the other communities we hear about.  A good example is this news story about the Tweetsie Line Trail between Johnson City and Elizabethton, in northeast Tennessee. 

Click here, then watch and listen as elected leaders, business development professionals, small business owners, and residents share enthusiasm and excitement about what the trail will mean to their community.  Imagine for a moment the Newton County community united in the same way around the Norfolk Southern railroad opportunity.

It's hard work, but we have to keep telling the stories.  Nationally, there are more than 1,600 rail trails covering over 19,000 miles of converted railroad.  It's happening somewhere everyday...  Just ask the people in Johnson City!

When we post links on our Facebook page to stories about the benefits of trails, facts to debunk arguments against, or success stories in other communities, I sometimes wonder what our readers think.  Do you ever ask "And, just what do you want me to do about it?"

Sure, we're preaching to the choir.  But, for one thing, we want you to read, get informed, and become a better trail advocate.  We want you to use the information to persuade your friends and neighbors to support trail building in Newton County.

But, there's something else...  We want you to get involved!  It's an unfortunate reality that progress these days is won or lost in the political arena.  And, that's a touchy subject.

As a 501(c)(3) non-profit, Newton Trails can't tell you who to vote for in any election, nor can we contribute to a campaign.  We can, however, encourage you to make support for greenway trails an important criteria in who you support.  This fall, the City of Covington has three council seats and the Mayor's position up for grabs.  Next year, the County Commission Chair and three commissioner posts will be up for reelection.  Consider, for a moment, that one vote on either the Covington City Council or the Newton County Board of Commissioners would have been enough to swing the vote on acquiring the Norfolk Southern railroad corridor.  A single vote makes all the difference.

So, what can you do?  At the very least, attend any and all candidate forums or "meet and greets" this fall.  Ask pointed questions about support for trails and find out where each candidate stands on all matters related to building trails in Newton County.  Make candidates take a clear, public stance.

Better, yet, become a candidate yourself. Qualifying for the 2011 municipal elections in each of Newton County's five municipalities is August 29 through September 2 of this year.  (Don't live in one of the cities?  Start making plans now to run for county commission next year.)

Contact the Newton County Board of Elections for information on qualifying to run in the November 8, 2011 Municipal Election.

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Chances are, our Founding Fathers would have found much to like about the bicycle.  For, after all, what other invention since the birth of our nation has done more to preserve those inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?  To ensure life, one must start with health.  And, no mode of transportation is more health-preserving than riding a bicycle.  Liberty?  Anyone who rode a bike as a child remembers the instant freedom you felt riding away from home, around the the block, and off to some friend's house or the corner 7-11.  And, these days, commuting or running errands by bicycle means freedom from dependence on foreign oil lords.

It seems they can even show that happiness shines brightest on those who put their mettle to the pedal for their daily commute.  Or, at least that's what The Atlantic Senior Editor Richard Florida found when looking at the correlation between the frequency of cycling in major metro areas and other quality of life or health factors.  You can read his work here.

With Independence Day just around the corner, we could well declare that safe places to pursue our life, liberty, and happiness are fundamental to who we are as a nation.

These days, many of us lament the loss of civility in our society.  And, of late, I've come to worry more and more about the risk posed to cyclists on our roadways in a world where those on bikes and those in cars come increasingly into heated conflicts where cyclists too often pay with their lives.

Well, tonight, I had one of those experiences I felt certain was headed in that direction.  Out riding with my friend Lee, we were on a fairly deserted, semi-rural road, riding side by side and chatting it up on a nice relaxing post-work ride.  Suddenly, from behind, I heard a blowing horn, a large red pickup trucked passed us on my left, and the driver quickly slowed with his hand out the window motioning us to stop.  I just knew a heated exchange was next, and I was in no mood for such.

I was past the truck before I knew what was happening, but I circled back in time to hear the man behind the wheel saying something, and Lee saying we were allowed to ride side by side.  As expected, here comes the hollering and shouting.

Much to my pleasant surprise, though, when I got to the window, the man was saying in a very calm tone that he was not complaining.  He asked us politely to consider riding single file when a vehicle was approaching.  "I love that you guys are out here," he said.  "You're being healthy.  That's great.  I just want to ask you to try and make it easier for cars to pass."

I explained that I agreed completely.  That I normally try to do just that, no matter that the law makes biking two abreast legal.  I explained that I just wasn't paying attention this night, and I did not see him coming.

We parted amicably.  And, I truly was grateful for his actions.  It bothered him that I did not ease over.  But, rather than pass us and curse under his breath, he took a chance and stopped us to express himself politely.  Just as we had no idea what he had in mind, he had no idea how we might react.  But, he took a chance.  And, I respect him so much for that.

 Taking a chance, communicating calmly, and listening with respect.  We could accomplish a lot that way.  Thank you, sir, whoever you were.

I received an email this week with an interesting link to a pro-bike story from an unlikely source (someone on record opposing a rails-to-trails project in Newton County).  And, I enjoyed the piece so much, I wanted to share it with readers of the Trail Talk Blog.

In The Real Reason Why Bicycles Are the Key to Better Cities, Kasey Klimes sets aside typical talking points promoting cycling -- such as public health, economic impact, or environmental conservation.  Instead, he writes about the very different intimacy one experiences biking through a city vs passing in a car.

"On a bicycle, citizens experience their city with deep intimacy, often for the first time, Klimes writes.  "For a regular motorist to take that two or three mile trip by bicycle instead is to decimate an enormous wall between them and their communities."

For me, he nailed the one aspect of biking (and walking, for that matter) I have never managed to explain clearly to a non-cyclist.  And, I would expand his assertion to include not just cities, but the suburbs and rural countryside as well.  I often tell people I am not from Newton County, but I feel I know this place with an intimacy unknown to many born and raised here.  To travel through the towns and rural farmlands of Newton County by bike is to see, hear, feel, smell, and (almost) taste this place.  I've found old home places at the end of dirt roads off the end of other dirt roads that most people don't know exist.  I've had close encounters with life both wild and domestic.  My wife is a native born of multiple generations in this county, but I tell her about roads she could never find on a map or in a car.

Traveling by bike is also a trip into the past.  You experience the landscape at a pace and with an immediacy seldom felt since we started wrapping ourselves in cocoons of steel, plastic, glass, and leather before making any journey.  You get to see people, hear people, and talk to people.  While perhaps not physically, in many ways you touch and are touched back by those you meet along the way.  A wave, a smile, a friendly greeting, and sometimes a real conversation.  These are gifts seldom if ever found from the confines of an automobile.

I wonder, sometimes, if that allure for me is also what repels others?  Is eye contact such a rarity these days, that much of our society is now fearful of it?  Are we so isolated from nature in the 21st century, that the idea of being out there with only a bike frame and skinny rubber tires between us and Mother Earth is a frightening prospect?

It both hurts and frustrates me when I realize how sincerely some "old-timers" fear and loathe those of us who want to see more places to walk and bike in our community.  I know in my heart that I love this place as they do.  It is a deep, knowing love born of special moments spent up close and personal, immersed through a bike ride into the natural, cultural, and human splendor of Newton County, Georgia.  My relationship with this place is meaningful to me, because of the time invested in "getting to know each other."

Thank you, Nat Harwell, for sending me the link.  And, thank you, Kasey Klimes, for bringing me back fully to some really special memories of treasured moments.

Dear readers, if you haven't ridden a bike lately and are capable, get out and give it a try.  You'll be amazed by the wonders laying ever beneath our noses!

I hate when I get too busy to blog.  I miss it.  Still not much time today, but I wanted to share some thoughts from last week's meeting of trail builders in the Northeast Georgia Region and our tour of the North Oconee River Greenway in Athens.

Sharing an afternoon with public officials and private citizens involved in building greenway trails around the region, it was invigorating to hear so much passion and commitment to the cause. It was also encouraging to hear the success stories from the Athens greenway system and the Sandy Creek Nature Center.  Ours is a region with so much untapped outdoor recreation potential just waiting to be harnessed for the health and economic well being of the region's 12 counties, 54 cities, and more than 635,000 people.  And, all of that natural beauty was in full display along the greenway.

The North Oconee River Greenway incorporates Athens-Clarke County's Heritage Trail -- a series of over fifty interpretive panels along the trail describing historical features such as the former Cook and Brother Armory, Chicopee Mill, Dudley Park, and the railroad.  I can so readily imagine similar panels along a rail trail in Newton County, commemorating our agricultural heritage, civil war history, and the glory days of communities like Starrsville, Hayston, and Brick Store that once dotted the landscape.  It's a vision we need to continue to share every chance we get.

Visit our Facebook page to see more photos of the Sandy Creek Nature Center, the North Oconee River Greenway, and the Heritage Trail.