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Louisiana
Federal Grant Allows Group to Advance Planning for 25-Mile Trail Link Between Three Downtowns
As the Lafayette City-Parish strives to ensure smart growth, it finds a keen ally in the Transportation Recreational Alternatives in Louisiana (T.R.A.I.L.) nonprofit, hard at work on its ambitious Atakapas-Ishak Trail initiative. Named after the old regional branch of Native Americans and pursued by T.R.A.I.L. President Scott Schilling since 2008, the 12-foot-wide biking and hiking trail will eventually link the Lafayette, Beaux and St. Martinville downtown areas, running for some 25 miles through forests and mostly open land, often along bayous now accessible only by foot or boat.
Aided by the Lafayette Metropolitan Planning Organization, the Rotary Club of Lafayette North, the three cities and many volunteers, reports Lafayette Independent weekly magazine, T.R.A.I.L. has recently secured a $100,000 per year grant from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Recreational Trail Program. Received through the Lafayette-based Community Foundation of Acadiana, the grant will help T.R.A.I.L advance design and engineering work, now focused on the trail’s first segment, from downtown Lafayette southeast to Beaver Park, Vermilionville, and the Jean Lafitte Cultural Center.
Encouraging readers to join the ranks of T.R.A.I.L. volunteers, the writer points to wider trail benefits. ''An opportunity to walk and bike as transportation encourages exercise, the use of mass transit, and reduces greenhouse gasses. Alternative transportation routes will also allow current residents of limited means access to resources and jobs previously unavailable to them,'' he writes. ''By simply developing safe bike paths and walkways, the Acadiana area will be on track to having an urban aesthetic that compliments its economic and cultural riches.'' 1/26/2010
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