<body><div><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1Esunc_1BDTrE6W00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1Esunc_1BDTrE6W00" width="1280" height="720" >CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) — Residents gathered at the Harrison County Parks and Recreation building Thursday to learn more about plans for the proposed Parkersburg to Pittsburgh Rail Trail corridor and provide feedback on the project’s development.Project leaders said the master planning effort focuses on building a connected trail network that could strengthen economic opportunities in rural areas throughout the region. The proposed corridor would link several communities while connecting trail users to the North Bend Rail Trail in neighboring Doddridge, Ritchie, and Wood Counties.“The overall vision is to close the gaps that still exist in sections of that trail, and to be able to start marketing that as a continuous rail trail going from Parkersburg up into Pennsylvania, and eventually into Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.,” Harrison Recreational Trails Board President Kent Spellman said. “By doing that, we’d have one of the longest rail trails in the United States, and it would become a destination for cyclist from all over.”Organizers explained that rail trail systems have continued to grow in popularity across the country, bringing increased tourism, outdoor recreation and potential business investment to areas along the routes. Community feedback gathered during the meeting will help shape long-term goals and priorities for the project.“I think trail users are aware of course of the assets that the trail is, but we really need to start marketing the assets that are not directly attached to the trail,” Spellman added. “Trail users also want to have places where they can eat, and where they can spend the night, and where they can do some unique shopping, and where they might try a different kind of trail, or they might get out on the water and not just on a rail trail. So, that diversity of experience is something that trail users really, really like, and we need to map those, we need to promote those, and we need to make sure that anybody visiting Harrison County is aware of them.”Funding for the planning initiative is being provided through an ARC ARISE grant along with matching support from the Just Transition Fund, the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, and the City of Fairmont. The public meeting was coordinated by the Harrison Recreational Trails in partnership with Harrison County Parks and Recreation, both of which are working to gather community input as the planning process moves forward.Another public meeting on the Parkersburg to Pittsburgh Rail Trail corridor project is scheduled for Wednesday, May 13, from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Wood County Resiliency Center.</div></body>

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CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) — Residents gathered at the Harrison County Parks and Recreation building Thursday to learn more about plans for the proposed Parkersburg to Pittsburgh Rail Trail corridor and provide feedback on the project’s development. Project leaders said the master planning effort focuses on building a connected...

Community input sought for regional rail trail development project

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