SEND LETTER TODAY !!
As cochairman of the Advocacy Committee of GROC (Genesee Regional Off-Road Cyclists), I am writing to you to urge your interest and support of Town of Victor in their efforts to develop and improve the Auburn Trail for multiple uses. This is a corridor roughly running between Powder Mills Park and Main Street, Fishers, that first was used by railroad trains, then after the tracks were removed, as a right of way for RG&E. It has been donated to the town for public use. Abandoned from its original use, it has become overgrown with vegetation that limits its passability to single track use in some areas; also, there is a collapsed culvert that will need to be repaired to allow safe passage. The town has sought and received Department of Transportation grant funding to help support improvements. Opposition has come from persons with interests in preserving the current status of the property. Their objections have been addressed by the town representatives in prior public meetings
Project Objectives:
+ Increase overall mobility, accessibility, and safety along the trail with special emphasis at road crossings.
+ Make the trail inviting and accommodating for all users.
+ Increase awareness, knowledge, and connectivity to the existing trail network in the region.
+ Minimize disturbance to the existing environment and habitat along the trail.
+ Attract people from outside the Town to visit Victor.
+ Use the trail to inform people of Victor and its rich history.
GROC’s Take:
It is GROC’s position that off-road cycling includes more than single track. Opening up “rails to trails” promotes healthful and environmentally friendly activity for a much larger group than only mountain bikers. Also, it connects and provides cultural and commercial benefits among neighboring communities.
Those who have worked to design the Auburn Trail improvements have the goal of seeing this become a corridor for persons of all ages and abilities to enjoy strolling, dog-walking, hiking and biking for recreation and commuting, just as well as for observing nature adjoining the path. Originally the plans were for a ten-foot wide pathway. In part to compromise with those who felt that this was too wide, the town sought and received a waiver from the DOT to reduce the width to eight feet. Then the groups and individuals opposed to the project complained that only a three-foot wide path would be acceptable to them-- a width clearly unacceptable to the DOT, which would cause forfeit of the grant—and which would deny two-way access to bicycle-bicycle, bicycle-pedestrian or any combination with wheelchairs. Their latest demand is that bikes should now have to be re-routed around the "Railroad Mills Preservation Area" requiring on-road riding up grades steeper than 15%. It has been patently obvious that all their demands have not been to improve the plans, but to scuttle it.
What can you do?
We need you to speak out in support of this very valuable project. Your input is critical. Those public figures who are the ultimate decision makers weigh the public comments not only by their passion and rational coherency, but also by their volume. Naturally, those who oppose things are motivated to speak out and organize against that thing. We need those of us that are for it to avoid complacency and to speak up, too.
There are two ways to advocate for the Auburn Trail Extension Project:
1) Attend the Open Forum design public hearing at the Victor Town Hall, 85 East Main Street, Victor, on April 29, 2010. The public is invited to come anytime between from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., to view project displays, ask questions of the design team, submit written comments, or individually provide verbal comments to a stenographer.
2) Write a (non-electronic) letter to the Victor Town Clerk before May 10, 2010, address 85 East Main Street, Victor, NY 14564
Attached is a sample letter that you may choose to use as your own , with or without modifications. It contains most points that we wish to make. Please, distribute this to your family and friends to join us.
Sincerely,
Mark Rosenzweig
Advocacy Co-chair, GROC
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