November 2006
COMMITTEE MEETING
The Greenway Committee is meeting on November 21'st at 7:30PM at City Hall. It is the same time as the regularly scheduled BOMA meeting. We will gather at a convenient location (we are not a formal City committee so we can't just schedule a conference room). You can find a copy of our Proposed Agenda on our Web Site.
Beside the specific business on the Agenda we will have general discussion of Greenway topics. The meeting is open to everyone. If you have topics that you want to add to the Agenda, please forward them to Tom Evans (tom@evanscenter.com). I will post these additions to the Web site.
LOCAL SPONSORED RIDES
CLOSED FOR THE SEASON
Sumner County is a great place to ride a bike. Help us preserve that experience.
Join our Local Group Ride. We try to match the ride to the skill of the participants. We would enjoy your company.
LOCAL GROUP RIDES
Every Saturday morning a group of us leave Hendersonville between 8AM to 9AM and ride various routes in Sumner County. Yes, EVEN IN THE COLD. I asked Dave Shumaker what do you wear when it is so cold. He said, "Everything you own."
It's not that bad. With the proper clothing riding in 30 degree temperatures, typical of our winters, is quite enjoyable (and exhilarating, of course).
Doug Depew is our ride leader. For more information, please contact us at
I HEARD IT IN THE WIND
David Hardin and Frank Bowyer IV are talking about a biking event in the Spring for the whole community. Their goal would be to maximize citizen involvement in our Greenway Projects. The "Hendersonville Green Day Town Tour " with 8 mile, 16mile, and 32 miler tours starting from Drakes Creek Park. They would join with commercial establishments to promote Greenway projects and Safe Cycling. Maybe a bike rodeo. Maybe a program to "Teach your kids to ride without Training wheels."
If you think they have a great idea, ENCOURAGE them, volunteer to help, or share your ideas. Send us an e-mail or visit David at The Biker's Choice Bicycle Shop.
HENDERSONVILLE TOMORROW
On October 24'th Tom Evans met with the Board of Alderman and Mayor to present the goals of the Bike and Pedestrian Sub-committee, now known as the Hendersonville Greenways Committee. He listed them as follows:
Trails for High-Speed Biking?
COMMITTEE ACTIVITIES
Mayor Foster Cites Impressive City Support for Greenways
In the October 24'th review of our Hendersonville Tomorrow (HTC) Sub-committee with the Board of Alderman and Mayor (BOMA), Mayor Scott Foster reported an impressive list of accomplishments for the City in 2006 in support of Greenway activities. He offered that four major land development projects now include Greenway trails, the City has State approval to begin construction of the Drake's Creek to Wessington School trail, it has completed the Nanny Berry/Ellis school connectors, and City has a consulting firm to assist it in future Greenway work. Mayor Foster also complemented the Greenways Committee for a level of enthusiasm and influence that greatly exceeded nearly all the other sub-committees.
Also, last month we also reported the completion by David Hardin and Timothy Whitten of the Master Plan for Bike/Pedestrian trails in Hendersonville, which is critical to our continuing progress.
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Your Participation is Important
Please write a short note to your Alderman and tell them you support the efforts of the Hendersonville Greenways Committee. Find list at www.hvilletn.org/aldermen.aspx. Or better yet, before this Tuesday's vote, call them on the phone and ask their plans for Greenways.
Far too often the silent majority remain silent and only get involved when they are moved to protest. So when good opportunities are avialable, like State-funded greenways, that money goes to other cities because our leaders didn't realize the citizens were interested. Believe me; it's true!
Please send your note today, tomorrow, and often and ask your neighbors to do the same.
“Your goal is to build trails for high speed biking." Unfortunately, that is sometimes the misperception of the intentions of the Greenways Committee because many of its members are avid bike enthusiasts that like to ride fast. However, the Committee goals are broad. While they are designing trail facilities that benefit the entire community, they are addressing infrastructure problems with improvements to roads for the safety of all forms of transportation, including that high-speed biker.
Greenways Promote Cities
In preparation for the BOMA review Tom Evans found some statistics everyone might find interesting. In 2002 a National Association of Realtors (NAR) and National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) surveyed 2000 homebuyers and ranked trails as "the second most important neighborhood amenity for homebuyers. Only highway access (44%) ranked higher. Also a 1994 American Lives study from the real estate industry revealed that "walking and biking paths" ranked 3’rd among 39 features identified by homebuyers as crucial factors in their home-purchasing decisions.
Also, Quality of Life for employees was the 3’rd most important factor in locating a business, according to an annual survey of chief executive officers conducted by Cushman and Wakefield in 1989. (The two most important factors were access to domestic markets and availability of skilled labor.)
Greenways sell homes, improve the value of properties fortunate to be near them, and improve Quality of Life. Mike Goff, Quality Engineer and Greenways Coordinator for Gallatin told Bruce Day and Tom Evans that land developers are his strongest supporters for Greenway Projects. In their October visit to his office Mike with contagious enthusiam told of Greenway progress in Gallatin, his ability to get grant money, and the great support he was receiving from the State, County, City, and citizen advocates, especially the home builders. Gallatin, even more than Hendersonville, is seeing explosive growth. For example,Fred Rodgers, Director of Hendersonville Planning, told a September meeting of the League of Women Voters that we already had plans for 15,000 new homes. So the opportunity and the challenges are NOW.
1) Obtain City commitment to Greenways by establishing a Project Coordinator on City Staff (a part-time task) similar to what other cities with a successful program have done. (Note: we can get some competent outside expertise to help when the City makes this specific commitment)
2) Work with the Project Coordinator to obtain city commitment to the Master Plan (revised in 2006 by David Hardin and Timothy Whitten)
3) Establish our Greenways Committee as a formal advisory committee to support the Project Coordinator (with a scope revised and expanded to match what other successful cities have, such as Missoula, MT; Auburn, AL; etc.)
facitilities, and alternative transportation corridors are a "no-brainer" asset for any community. This idea is such huge winner that most major cities are actively pursuing them and government and private organizations are offering grants for their construction.
Planners talk about linking neighborhoods and cities with these corridors. In Northern Indiana and Illinois they have advanced Greenways to a level that they are talking about linking counties with their spectacular network of multi-use trails.
Mike Goff, Quality Engineer and Greenway Coordinator for the City of Gallatin, tells the story that after one of his greenway presentations to a local community service organization a man in a wheel chair approached him with great enthusiasm and said he was for greenways and what could he do to help. The man was certainly not someone that Mike expected as a greenway advocate. The man explained that thanks to the greenway his range for travel in his wheel chair was considerably greater. He would be able to do a lot more for himself. Greenways are for everyone.
RIDE WITH A BUDDY
If you have noticed, bicycle riding is becoming popular in Hendersonville. An article in Business Week SmallBiz says Boomers are flocking to biking. Sales of road bikes rose from 5% of all bike sales in 2002 to 16% last year according to National Bicycle Dealers Assn. Yes, it's the old guys like me who are buying these things. We swear no form of exercise matches biking for all around cardio-vascular training, muscle toning, and weight reduction (we are still working on the latter.) For us biking exercise equates to maintaining Quality of Life. After just one year of trying to keep up (the guy at the very back of a group ride is usually me) all my physical metrics have improved demonstratively. I now spring up a set of stair rather than stopping every few feet to rest.
However, if you are like I, you believe safety is in numbers, plus it is just a lot more enjoyable to ride with friends. Also, sometimes it takes extra prodding to get us fat senior citizens out of the easy chair and onto the bike. That is where the buddy comes in. E-mail your name (to BikeNwalk@comcast.net), where you live, and when/how you prefer to ride and we will try to find that buddy. If fact, my buddy even washes and lubricates my bike. How can you beat that?
Don't worry about not keeping up in a group ride. I need someone to talk to at the tail-end. Also you can blame me, when the ride leader complains about having to wait on the slow riders.
INDIAN LAKE VILLAGE GREENWAY
Timothy Whitten reports in a note to David Hardin that the City is discussing with HALO Properties representatives construction of the Greenway on the Master Plan that runs along the railroad and underneath the Indian Lake Boulevard Bridge, then north-west between the proposed multi-family development and the shopping center, to the proposed Mir bridge crossing over the creek.
They are also amenable to a bridge crossing at or near the Drakes Creek Park railroad bridge. A crossing here would save a good deal of cost in asphalt, perhaps enough to justify the bridge crossing (depending on the type of bridge required). HALO may pursue the creek bridge scenario and any possible City involvement.
For more information and to sign up to receive this newsletter, contact Doug Depew at BikeNwalk@comcast.net
BikeNwalk Newsletter is edited and distributed by Tom Evans (tom@evanscenter.com)
BUILD-A-BIKE TRAIL
An urban freeway costs about 2500 times more per mile than an urban cycleway according to John Button's How to Be Green,in the Australian Edition published by Random Century Hutchinson Australia Pty Ltd. In the Fall 2000 issue of The Virginia Cyclist stated construction costs:
10-foot shared use path $92,000 per mile
4-foot paved shoulder on each side $69,200 per mile
On November 11, 2002 planners at the 16th National Trails Symposium in Orlando, estimated 10-ft path at $100,000/mile.
Want to know more about State and Federal Engineering Design Guidelines and Cost/Benefits? Visit our design page at
Committee Addresses Infrastructure Issues
The scope of our Greenways Committee is more than just preserving pristine areas of our community for enjoyment of all the citizens. We are addressing the whole scenario of alternative (to the car) transportation and the infrastructure issues and opportunities afforded by this growth. Frank Bowyer IV is especially concerned about road development. He along with David Hardin and Bruce Day have made formal presentations to the Hendersonville Planning Commission and have offered assistance to Public Works.
Having visited other cities that have advanced the greenway concept, they are convinced these long linear parks which provide both scenic, tranquil green buffer space, recreational
We are also happy to report the many of the Aldermen are learning what a great asset Greenways bring to our City. Shirley Wilson, Chair of HTC, says several of the other HTC sub-committees made recommendations to BOMA favorable to Bike and Pedestrian Trails. We are also hearing several aldermen now voice their support for Greenways.
