START seeks $1.3 million for recreation trail - The Salamanca Press

START seeks $1.3 million for recreation trail from the Friday, July 9, 1999 issue of The Salamanca Press

By Laura Howard

LITTLE VALLEY - The group working to convert 12.1 miles of abandoned rail line into recreation trail has submitted a grant application to the state and plans to begin its project with a Friendship Arch at the bottom of Main Street.

"The S.T.A.R.T. (Southern Tier Area Rails to Trails) Committee has just submitted its application for a $1.3 million grant in the form of TEA-21 money. the total cost for this project is $2.1 million. We expect to hear from the state early next year, but in the meantime we would like to continue with the momentum we have generated and start by erecting a Friendship Arch at the lower end of Main Street in the village of Little Valley. This will serve as the beginning of our demonstration project," said Rick LeFeber, executive director of the Cattaraugus Local Development Corp.

S.T.A.R.T. Steering Committee members are looking at artists renderings for the arch project and hope to select a design and begin work in the fall. The proposed site is in the vicinity of the former Gramco Building and Brook's Market. the committee is considering an elongated design that will appear as an arch from whatever direction it is viewed. The Project will symbolize the friendship of the communities along the trail and equality among trail users.

The rail will run from Salamanca to Cattaraugus, passing through Little Valley and New Albion along the former Erie rail line, which was most recently owned by the Cattaraugus County Industrial Development Agency, which acquired it in 1980. the track was used for a short time by the New York and Lake Erie Railroad for an excursion train based in Gowanda.

In May, following a series of public hearings, the CCIDA accepted a proposal from CLDC to turn the line into a four-seasons trail to be used for walking, hiking, rollerblading, jogging, bicycling, snow shoeing, cross-country skiing, sleigh rides and snowmobiling.

In the spring, S.T.A.R.T. began looking for trail volunteers to help with conversion and maintenance of the trail.

S.T.A.R.T. Steering Committee Chairman Brad Walters observed, "This has been an exceptional project. I have never seen a project move along as smoothly as this one has, at this point, because everyone has pulled together for a common goal. This project will benefit our county through increased tourism dollars, and public awareness as to what our county has to offer. I'm proud to have been a part of it, and of those who have contributed to its success."

LeFeber credited Steering committee members and county officials for the support the project has received so far.

" The Cattaraugus County Rail to Trail project has been on the fast track since its inception. A project of this magnitude usually takes seven years to complete. We expect it to be completed in two, but we could never have gotten this far and as fast we did the support and ireless efforts of our county legislators; Department of Economic Development, Planning and Tourism' the Development and Agriculture Committee, our Steering Committee, and all those who supported us through letters and other ways... Without their support this project might never have gotten off the ground," said LeFeber.