Funding process for trail clears another hurdle - The Times Herald

Funding process for trail clears another hurdle from the Friday, October 29, 1999 issue of The Times Herald

By Rick Jozwiak

A $3.1 million grant application for a proposed recreational trail between Salamanca and Cattaraugus has made heartening progress, trail planners said.

The Southern tier Association for Rails to Trails (START) applied earlier this summer for state money to develop a 12-mile recreational trail along the former New York & Lake Erie Railroad bed.

Rick LeFeber, executive director of Cattaraugus Local Development Corp. and founder of Rails to Trails, said the grant application will be reviewed by a state transportation committee. The state commissioner of transportation will decide which projects get money after hearing the committee's recommendations on the 15 remaining grant applications.

Mr. LeFeber said the commissioner is expected to make the decision before the end of the year.

The trail would be available to bicyclists, hikers, horseback riding, cross-country skiers and snowmobilers. Starting at the Salamanca city line, the trail will stretch to New Albion Road in Cattaraugus and link with several local, state and national trail systems in the area.

Besides advancing the START grant application, the state Department of transportation increased the grant amount by more than $16,000 to ensure there was enough money for bridge maintenance along the trail. That was a heartening sign of the application's prospects, Mr. LeFeber said.

Association for Rails to Trails Chairman brad Walters said, '"This is a major victory on the review path of this grant application. This project has come a tremendous distance since we formed our organization and undertook this project in January of this year".

Mr. LeFeber said the goal is to finish the project within two years. If the goal is realized, the project would serve as a model for future trail projects, he said.

The village of Little Valley is sponsoring the project and will be the site of a recreation area along the trail at the east end of Main Street.

Through a donation of materials, Mr. LeFeber said Rails to Trails has received and is storing the components to build a steel arch across the trail in Little Valley.

The structure would be called the "Friendship Arch" and would stand 40 feet tall and 100 feet across.

Rails to Trails is waiting to take possession of the rail line once the Cattaraugus County Industrial Development Agency receives state approval.

The Friendship Arch will be built shortly after Rails to Trails takes possession of the property, he said.