The purpose of this study is to help local government improve the existing active transportation (pedestrian and bicycle) network in Hampton Roads in a cost-effective way, by locating inactive rail right-of-ways and analyzing the costs and benefits of converting them to multi-use trails. Based on original research of existing rail-trails in the U.S. (including Hampton Roads), staff has prepared both quantitative and qualitative measures of candidate rail-trails.
First, staff located inactive rail lines in Hampton Roads, shown below.
Inactive Rail Right-Of-Ways in Hampton Roads
Secondly, staff developed three (3) quantitative measures for these 14 candidate trails:
Estimating impact on usage of active transportation:
Estimating rail-trail impact on real estate values:
In addition, staff prepared two maps for each of the 14 candidate rail-trails:
An example of a Public Facilities map is shown below for the “Churchland” candidate trail.:
As next steps, HRTPO staff plans to: