Photo Credit: Stantec
A long, flat, abandoned stretch of land and a community asking for recreational trails seems like a match made in heaven, right? Well, maybe. The prospect of converting a former rail line into a recreational trail—known as a “rail trail”—sounds simple enough and, in many cases, is a terrific solution to a community need. However, when federal or state funding is involved, these trails can have more challenges than meet the eye, especially with the legal processes, negotiations, research, and other snags that can arise. Before launching into what seems like a straightforward rail-trail effort, consider the following common—but often unanticipated—headaches that can occur once a project is underway.
1. The funding “catch.” A number of state and federal programs provide funding for rail-trail projects, which is a tremendous asset for cash-strapped communities. However, these programs often come with a number of stipulations. Most notably, the municipality is typically required to pay for the design, permitting, and right-of-way components of the trail. In and of itself, basic design isn’t tremendously expensive, but often the conditions of the funding process require several more steps and phases of design, much of which are not factored into initial cost estimates. For instance, the funding agency may require costly redesigns of portions of the project, as well as a slew of permits and easements, which entail lawyers and legal processes, historic record searches, documentation production, etc. With these extra steps, it’s generally accepted that the design phase can cost up to 20 to 30 percent of the construction costs. Communities and designers should be aware of that ratio at the beginning of the process so budget constraints don’t end up limiting progress.
Also, in some cases, the “bucket” from which the funding is taken dictates the design elements that may be covered by the funding. A rail trail being built as part of a streetscape or economic development effort, for example, may include funding for benches. But a trail being funded for traffic-congestion relief probably will not, leaving the municipality on the hook for these types of expenses.