2010

Active Living Research and Hart County Green Space Inventory Transportation Policy Must Be Linked to Public Health Policy for Success in Active Living Programs or to Get America Moving

Colin Owen Carmen Miranda Tracie Sanchez University of Georgia

PADP9200 Independent Study with Dr. Andrew Whitford

Active Living Research Review Including Urban & Rural Areas 2000-2010 Transportation Policy Must Be Linked to Public Health Policy for Success in Active Living Programs or to Get America Moving

Tracie Sanchez 8/11/2010

Table of Contents  Executive Summary  Achieving Active Living Goals via Greenways  Linking Transportation and Public Health Policy  Forming Partnerships in Communities to Support Projects  Funding Sources  Preserving Green Space  Active Living Conclusion  Case study: Hart County Green Space  Works Cited  Appendix: Hart County Green Space Inventory

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Executive summary “Active living” is a way of life that integrates physical activity into the daily routine, and is an important aspect of preventing obesity among children and families. The goal of active living is for youth to accumulate at least 60 minutes of physical activity each day, and for adults to get at least 30 minutes. People can do this in a variety of ways, such as walking or bicycling for transportation, exercise or pleasure; playing in the park; engaging in physical education classes or recess during school; working in the yard; taking the stairs; and using recreation facilities. In order to facilitate and support opportunities for active living, a focus on the built environment—including neighborhoods, transportation systems, buildings, parks and open space—is essential. Policies to make these changes are important and can be implemented at all levels of government to create activity-friendly environments. School policies can improve physical education, recess, after school programs and active transportation to school. (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation) The last 10 years of active living research all echo three points which are: 

transportation policy must be linked to health policy;

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collaborations within communities must include partnerships between health centers, hospitals, schools, city planners, parks & recreation, and transportation representatives;

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funding continues to come in for innovative programs that increase physical activity or active living not just in urban built environments but also in rural populations, lower socio-economic areas, or for at-risk citizens.

Greenways and all their components are a chief and common way to preserve space in which communities can implement and execute active living projects. Currently, political support for these programs is very high in that this country’s executive leadership revised transportation policy to highlight and demand bicycling and walking initiatives and created programs such as Let’s Move specifically intended to increase physical activity which reduces childhood obesity and diabetes through active living policies. The DOT/HUD/EPA have partnered to promote livable and sustainable communities which means the transportation, housing, and environmental agencies are all working together to achieve these goals. A centerpiece and model for implementing active living are rail-trails, greenway projects which are converting abandoned rail lines to multi-use trails. Rail-trails have become popular recreation destinations, a real estate asset, featured in desirable retirement sites, and draw new visitors to communities as well as provide general off-street recreation opportunities. In all types of recreation facility development, not just multi-use trails, a Page 3

diverse team, a champion, tremendous coordination, confidence to propose change and enact new policy, and patience to accept existing policy, along with community involvement is essential for success. There is no easy way around trail building. It's rarely the cost that presents hurdles, its zoning and lack of land/space. This paper confirms that the active living research has been conducted in urban and rural areas, is currently well supported financially by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, has a number of case studies to demonstrate success, many of which implement greenways, and illustrates what a great model the Active Living by Design (ALbD) 5Ps model is, and that this is a great time to make progress towards livable, sustainable communities through active living goals.

Achieving active living goals via greenways Greenways are defined by Hellmund and Smith in “Designing Greenways” as bands on the landscape, designated for their natural or recreational resources or other special qualities. They straddle waterways, traverse ridgelines, and sometimes cut across the landscape independent of topographic features. They range from narrow urban trail corridors to winding river flood plains to very wide, wilderness-like landscape linkages. Greenways never provide just one function, such as recreation along a bike path, but always, even if unintentionally, do many things at the same time, such as nature conservation, floodwater management, and water quality protection. In shape, they are linear, open space, connected, preserved, for transit, recreation, wildlife etc. A greenway is most effectively designed and managed, then, when all of these dimensions are recognized and coordinated. (Hellmund) Greenways are not standalone development scenarios, they are elements of a comprehensive strategy that should be put in place as soon as possible before land becomes parceled out or rivers contaminated, or wildlife displaced and extinct and all natural buffers lost. Greenways are not limited to actions that support only humans and in fact humans often don’t have access to parts of greenways, wildlife maybe. In other words they are not solely for recreation, or urban barriers, they preserve and connect and protect rural lands and historic, cultural, and natural features. (Starnes) One of the largest public works projects ever attempted in the U.S. is underway currently in Atlanta and it is called the Beltline. It recaptures abandoned rails and as designed by Ryan Gravel, a Georgia Tech graduate student, creates a 22-mile ring around downtown Atlanta and its environs offering bike trails and sidewalks alongside the corridor for light rail which connects to heavy rail, Amtrak, and the proposed brain train, (a high-speed passenger rail line from Atlanta to Athens so named for the 11 college stations along its route) and crosses through 46 neighborhoods offering 3000 acres of parkland along the route. This large greenway will relieve traffic congestion, revitalize communities, develop neighborhoods along rail lines, and incorporates art and events into the design to promote the economic, social, and environmental values of the community.

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Linking transportation + health policy Although much of what you will read here drives home the point that public health policy and transportation policy must be worked on simultaneously, there are differences in how to prioritize the initiatives designed to support both and that priority shifts depending on if the community is an urban or rural one, but there are tools to help prioritize. RALA, a Rural Active Living Assessment tool, surveys rural areas to measure active living using different criteria that are not present in urban settings. Three areas with both opportunities and barriers are physical, program, and policy environments. Seven rural areas were piloted including TN, MI, and SC in the south. An interesting immediate observation is summed up as: buses not bikes, i.e., distance to locations of physical activities are so great in rural areas and thus a barrier to those who cannot drive (youth or seniors). This lack of transit needs to be solved first rather than pushing active transport (via walking or biking). Thus a huge focus on biking and trails in absence of busses is a glaring oversight in the first solution for rural areas. So, the first step is to provide public transit, perhaps busses with bike racks on the front so as to extend the distance that one can cover and offer a healthy active option for part of the journey. Another great tool is an HIA or a Health Impact Assessment. HIAs are designed to support the public health initiative that is part of any policy. It is a new tool and will be used much more going forward to beef up support for incorporating active living techniques into policy and tying transportation planning in to collaborate on Complete Streets. A new inclusive concept that acknowledges roads are for everyone and we can build or rework them to suit and accommodate all travelers: cars, bikes, and pedestrians safely. Dannenberg of the CDC refers to three HIAs that were conducted in Georgia: Beltline, Buford Hwy, and City of Decatur. As a result, Decatur opened an Office of Active Living to coordinate city efforts across all agencies afterwards. Several other HIAs offered data to support senior homes with walking trails, park access, and walking & biking to reduce childhood obesity. It appears to be a new and perfect tool since numerous HIAs have reviewed active living case studies and found the impacts of transportation and public health policies inseparable. In Utah, a study on the Wasatch front echoed all the policy linking guidance, but one must keep in mind that it is new to hear this approach and repetition may be the key to adoption. A costly retrofit to a brand new light rail system that did not build bike path access to the system showed Utah that transportation and public health policies were indeed linked and planning expertise combining them should be followed, in the future. A note of importance on this linking of policies is that both departments should own the mission. Hanson noted that in Arlington bicycling facilities were placed under the transportation umbrella versus that of city planners and park builders. And Boarnet reminded planners that tying health policy to city planning did not rest solely on the Page 5

shoulders of health agencies and that planners should remember to own this as well. (Boarnet) Bottom line, it is a collaboration at the policy level and in the community.

Forming partnerships to support projects Arlington County Virginia experienced several natural and policy-based forms of support for bicycling related projects. Their story rivals Portland, Oregon as the most successful model. Arlington had a vision back in the 1970s and as a unique community using the county manager model. They benefitted from the wisdom of a manager who included bicycling for commuters in the master plans from the beginning. They attribute their success over decades to constant collaboration, large citizen input and making sure your mission has a champion for the cause, a dedicated public servant, an advisory council, and allows the greenway to be built incrementally. (Hanson) The “Tracing the Evolution of a Biking System” article documents many lessons learned for those of us pursuing collaborative models of change in large metropolitan congested traffic areas like Atlanta. But there are lessons learned for rural areas too. In Hart County Georgia, they are designing phase two of a green space plan and are part of GMRC, a 10-county Georgia Mountain Regional Commission that has drafted a bicycling and pedestrian plan for the region. Neighboring counties of Elbert and Franklin do not have a green space plan as of yet but are zoned largely agricultural which implies the green space exists. Nearby Dawson County has mapped green space showing sidewalks, trails, parks and such. The adjacent regional commission to Hart County is the Northeast Georgia Regional Commission (NEGRC) which contains another 12 counties and has a green space plan along with a key map of facilities and resources. Hart County can follow the lead of all their neighbors who have made progress towards preserving green space and likely influence Elbert and Franklin counties along the way. Indeed several endeavors in the area, including the healthcare system, a joint industrial development authority, and a wellness park already utilize a multi-county approach. Again collaboration and achieving connectivity are the most often cited goals in active living research so working with neighbors within the region and adjacent ones is a good idea. Partnership headlined in an immigrant neighborhood in Hawaii, where active living projects were designed for a community that needed help immediately and really didn’t have time for fundraising or policy setting. ALbD grant money allowed them to act quickly but it was the ownership of the project by the local community health center that really drove the success; because they knew best what the community needed, help with young at-risk males. A local park acquired for historical and cultural preservation gave a home to a bicycle repair and recycle center where youth learned skills, hung out with supervision, got active on bikes, and gave new life to a park they cherished culturally. And the challenge reinvigorated a tired old community health center movement allowing it to addresses the broader social determinants of health in a community. So again partnership was most Page 6

important in the active living project. And an interesting observation was made due to the urgency of the situation, which is that at times action can come first and policy second although not the norm.

Funding sources Active Living By Design (ALbD) creates community-led change by working with local and national partners to build a culture of active living and healthy eating. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation sponsors ALbD and active living research and offers grants to fund innovative approaches to resuming activities like walking to school, biking to the park, commuting to work, or running errands less than 3 miles by bike, bus, or foot. Safe Routes to Schools, bike racks on busses, rails-to-trails projects are but a few of the easily funded and quick to install solutions that the foundation supports. Indeed the cost for the entire East Coast Greenway from Maine to Florida is less than one fifth the construction cost of one bridge on Interstate 95 which travels the same corridor. Our country’s top leadership in government supports this initiative. The U.S. DOT has a helpful list of other funds offered to communities willing to put travel by foot, bicycles, or multi modes back on the agenda and design roads and highways that serve all of us including trucks and cars. “Complete Streets” is the common term for this all-encompassing idea that we can all travel the roads of America and that we build them with our nation’s public health in mind. The following criteria are required for federal transportation funding of bike/pedestrian projects: must link health and transportation policy, serve rural and low socio-economic areas, and track data better. Also a shift from local to state planning and even regional offers more access to funding. And having a master plan for bike/pedestrian facilities is often required in funding applications; many rural areas miss out on funds from grants because they do not have a plan. (Cradock)

Preserving green space Naturally in rural areas, state routes, highways, railroad lines, power lines achieve much of the connectivity. The main Hart County map in the appendix illustrates what we consider green space and highlights it in yellow. Some of what we haven’t marked are natural elements: the rivers, streams, and wildlife corridors that already exist, but certainly they add to the inventory. Denoting and protecting this green space provides a way to follow nature’s path in hiking, biking, canoeing, and traveling through the county so as not to disturb or displace wildlife, streambeds, flood zones, and other environmental concerns that building requires. Even though a green space might not be traveled by humans, it keeps animals out on the fringe where they prefer and linear parcels of land from being chopped up and leaves the environment less impacted. This allows connection to other Page 7

parts of the county without requiring humans or wildlife to battle with the cars and trucks on America’s roadways just to get across town to play ball or recreate at the lake or stroll in a garden. Preserving green space, planning the built environment, and the transit within it are all policies that offer us a ‘if you build it they will use it” approach to ultimately reducing childhood obesity, diabetes, elder care through providing a way to simply be more active in our daily lives.

Active Living Conclusion ALbD has identified five strategies that address partnerships and the ecologic influences on physical activity behaviors: preparation, promotions, programs, policies and physical projects. These “5P strategies” provide the intervention framework for community partnerships. Scientific support of the effectiveness of these strategies can be found in various studies, many of which were summarized by the Federal Task Force on Community Preventive Services. These interventions included community-wide campaigns, tailored behavior change programs, point-of-decision prompts, school-based physical education and enhanced access to places for physical activity, combined with informational outreach activities. (Active Living By Design) Plenty of research already says that active living is the tool for getting agencies in the built environment and concern for the public health aligned. This report summarizes the repeated advice to collaborate, use new data, link transportation policy to health policy and, find a champion for the cause. Great success in Portland, Oregon also indicates that if a community is at the beginning of a project, that holding a concept planning stage prior to the actual planning stage is very useful and not as threatening. They suggest it as part of the formula in making the paradigm shift of reintegrating public health into urban planning. (Adler) This report also explores the multitude of funding currently for active living projects. Not only is the RWJF leading the way in financing Active Living by Design 5P models but the Recovery Act, Stimulus Act, transportation dollars, TE, ISTEA, Georgia Recreation Trails, and the First Lady herself, via the Let’s Move program, all offer financial support. Arlington in the east and Portland in the west are model transit cities who have already achieved some of the foundational steps of having a master plan for development that includes bicycling and walking. These cities exemplify having a plan other than sprawl to better design the built environment, and their successes in getting people moving and creating a safe space in which to do it and creating a fitter population are showcased for the rest of us to follow. Although research on greenways in rural areas is still minimal, it does exist and there are some commonalities which makes the research useful because everyone can benefit from active living and implement it in ways that match their community needs.

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Case study: Hart County Green Space BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Today, city planning and transportation planning decisions are fortunately becoming tied to health planning again. Perhaps you recall this approach from the 1970s, another era when all decisions about the built environment were tied to health policy, but in the last three or four decades we have gotten away from this. Obesity epidemics and increased diabetes and other preventable medical conditions have skyrocketed medical costs and reminded us that we are inactive and unhealthy. We have lost sight of tying health policy issues to planning decisions as we sprawl our towns, cities, and green spaces. National initiatives led by this country’s leadership and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention are back in place to get America moving again. They are linking policy for how to build and how to transport people to the health of people which makes perfect sense. We just needed reminding. Research in the last decade points to active living as the program for tying this all together. Cateechee is "pure golf in a nature park." No houses, no street crossings, no traffic to spoil your experience of playing this Audubon Signature Course, just named a "Four-Star" destination in Hartwell by (Golf Digest). The description above from the Cateechee Golf Club web site shares the feeling one gets on a greenway. Preserving them now prevents the parceling out, loss, or development of those environments in which pure active living or pure wilderness can occur. Newton County negotiated this summer with mayors of neighboring towns to sign a pledge to appeal to Norfolk-Southern to move forward on completing rail line abandonment so rail-trail building could start. Stephens County has plans for the Tallulah Gorge Rail Trail providing miles of shady multi-use paths in the fondly remembered path of the trains of yester year. Clarke county may be years away from ironing out the details of easements and rights of way on the 39-mile line to Union Point, but they’ve already named it the Firefly after the wood burning engine that frequently shot sparks into the night on its regular run. Hart County has some abandoned rail line and some seldom used rail line to negotiate on, but the centerpiece is the historic turntable in the downtown area. It is perfect for historic preservation, green space protection, and trail building project to provide active living in the heart of Hart County and leading out of downtown to other destinations. Hart County Green space exists: ballparks at two in-town county parks, high school fields, middle school fields, the arts center, state of Georgia waterfront parks, gum Branch Park at the mega ramp all the way north to reed creek, fishing pier at the dam, and trails at the gateway parks. For such a small county, there are a number of dots to connect across the county and then carry that over to Franklin and Stephens and Elbert counties too. An Page 9

existing map of rail lines is here: http://www.hartiba.com/map-room.html and interns have included in this binder, a resource inventory map for the county to include all of the above and more as we learn about it. A sample of how powerful the information can be is evidenced by looking at the NEGRC map of similar design for the neighboring region to the west. (NEGRC)

SNAPSHOT OF HART COUNTY Located approximately 90 miles northeast of Atlanta along Interstate I-85, Hart County is situated in the heart of the rapidly developing I-85 Growth Corridor between Atlanta, Greenville/Spartanburg, South Carolina, and Charlotte, North Carolina. The county is named after local Revolutionary War heroine Nancy Hart, and is the only county in Georgia named for a woman. The county includes the cities of Hartwell and Bowersville as well as over 200 miles of scenic shoreline along Lake Hartwell. Traditionally, Hart County has had a rural economy based on textile manufacturing and agriculture. In recent years, economic trends resulted in the shift of textile manufacturing overseas, resulting in job loss within the community. A regional pro-business approach to economic development including industrial park development, infrastructure and airport expansion, and investments in education has attracted new industry and is positioning Hart County for the future. Lake Hartwell, an excellent quality of life, and the strategic location of Hart County along the I-85 corridor, have attracted an increasing number of tourists, retirees, and secondhome owners to the area. The community’s priorities center on opportunities and challenges related to economic development and visioning for the future of Hart County. The efforts of the Hart County Archway Partnership focus on these areas, including: education and workforce development, tourism, long-term planning, and leadership. Local Hart County Archway partners include the City of Hartwell, Hart County Board of Commissioners, Hart County Board of Education, Hart County Chamber of Commerce, Hart County Hospital, and the Hart County Industrial Building Authority. (Hart County Archway)

INVENTORY OF KNOWN GREEN SPACE An inventory of resources is helpful in measuring the starting point for and success of sustainable development, and the criteria measured should match other regions so comparisons can be done, not only locally but against neighbors in the region. The bottom line is, the decision to create a green space must begin locally and requires consideration of all three impacts (social, economic, and environmental) when implementing solutions and a focus on interconnectedness, because it can’t be done in a silo. Public input is necessary for having small rural towns with declining populations accept and support any sustainable development policy, or any visions that are set for the community. And the common good must be considered in addition to individual needs or it simply will not work. "Embracing sustainable development necessitates creating a community vision composed of qualities Page 10

that the community as a whole cherishes. Creating a vision and implementing that vision will require finding a balance between community rights and individual rights." (Furuseth 131-145) Full details on these 16 green space inventory items include drawings indicating landscape architecture design, planting schedules, and instructions and are located in the Appendix. 1. Gum Branch Mega ramp – a specially designed and landscaped boat launch area capable of handling tournaments where many boaters launch, park, and participate in a lake activity ranging from the regional to international level in scope. 2. Clay Street Park – a county recreation facility in Hartwell containing ball fields, picnic pavilions, and other amenities. 3. Elberton Hwy Park includes Botanic Garden - a county recreation facility in Hartwell containing ball fields, picnic pavilions, and other amenities. 4. Railroad Turntable – historic turnaround structure at end of rail line in downtown Hartwell currently hosting 2 abandoned railcars and a thriving blackberry thicket. 5. Tri-County Wellness Park – land cleared and set aside to provide joint amenities for Franklin, Stephens, and Hart Counties. 6. Hartwell Courthouse and downtown area charrette from 2004 7. Hart State Park – State recreation facility offering camping and 15 miles of multi-use trails currently minimally staffed yet open year round. 8. Lake Hartwell Dam and fishing pier – beautifully board-walked and tree-lined approach to a fishing pier at the dam. 9. Gateway Parks I and II – industrial parks adjacent to I-85 corridor offering numerous sites for business surrounded by landscaped area with walking trails. 10. Bowersville Park – City Park. 11. Reed Creek – land available for park development. 12. DNR hunting land and Lakefront – 220+ miles of shoreline on Lake Hartwell. 13. Payne’s Creek Mountain Biking Park – north end of county, slated to be developed by the Army Corps of Engineers. 14. Hwy 77 also known as the route of the Savannah River Run Bike route. 15. Hwy 29 & 17, slated for bike lanes in the GMRC 2005 master plan. 16. Railroad lines/corridors, some of which are still in use.

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CONNECTIVITY AND LIVABILITY Hart County is a rural community, which adds another layer of complexity for how to connect the dots. However, numerous studies show how they are accomplishing just that. Information from other rural communities is shared here in this green space plan. Although this project began as an attempt to inventory the parks, trails, fishing ramps, gardens, recreation areas in the county, it quickly became clear that the data on green space needed to be compiled in a greenway master plan. This plan would allow the county to reference it and apply for financing for landscaping parks, tournament level fishing facilities, sidewalks, rails to trails paths, historic features like the turntable, senior walking clubs, and community or botanic gardens. Neighboring counties were also surveyed to see what their green space plans looked like, so as to connect regionally and see what partnerships they have in place tying transportation policy to health policy. Livability is about providing people, including seniors and those who cannot afford to drive everywhere, better choices for traveling throughout their communities. It’s about encouraging growth in historic small town Main Streets across America and a high quality of life with ample green space, biking or walking paths, and shopping, restaurants or health care located nearby and easily accessible. While some of these communities face formidable threats – from job losses and shrinking populations to disappearing farmland and strained resources – their leaders have forged collaborations and created plans that are growing economies, benefiting people and protecting the land and lifestyles treasured by residents and non-residents alike. And no matter what skeptics in Washington say, livability is a value that rings true in these communities. Policymakers have taken significant steps to support coordination among transportation, housing, environmental and agricultural planning. Of particular importance is the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, a joint effort between the EPA, the HUD and the DOT. In his 2011 budget, President Obama proposed $830 million for collaborative projects between these key agencies to improve quality of life in our communities and increase transportation options, affordable housing and economic opportunity – together. Similarly, the Livable Communities Act, sponsored by Senator Chris Dodd, would build upon this concept by authorizing $4 billion in competitive grants to support communities with promising plans and projects — communities making efforts like those outlined in these case studies. Without this kind of funding assistance, many small towns and rural areas lack the financial resources, planning capacity, or authority to implement forwardlooking solutions to deal with the challenges they face. (Davis)

FUNDING As mentioned previous The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation sponsors active living research and offers grants to fund innovative approaches to resuming activities and included in the binder is the U.S. DOT list of other funds offered to communities willing to

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put travel by foot, bicycles, or multi modes back on the agenda and design roads and highways that serve all of us including trucks and cars. Complete Streets legislation will offer funding and strike a more inclusive note to all forms of transit projects. Other grants Hart County should pursue are the Georgia Recreation Trail grants, found here: http://www.gastateparks.org/core/item/page.aspx?s=18195.0.1.5#application and here: www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/rectrails/ . The Georgia Department of Natural Resources administers the Georgia Recreational Trails Program (general information on this Federal "TEA-funded" program is at www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/rectrails/). GDNR is accepting grant proposals through November for its next funding cycle. The Georgia Department of Transportation is presenting the Draft FY 2011-2014 Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) for public review and comment with several public meetings around the state. The STIP lists Federally-funded transportation projects that are located outside Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) boundaries. The STIP is a four-year program that specifies federally funded transportation projects for non-urban communities in rural Georgia for fiscal years 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. These projects include, but are not limited to, new construction, improvements, and maintenance for interstates and state routes and bridges. Additional projects include bicycle and pedestrian projects, transportation enhancement projects and public transit projects. http://www.georgiastip.com/ The Livable Communities Act would provide grants for comprehensive planning to communities looking to integrate transportation, housing, economic development and environmental issues and set aside $3.75 billion over three years for competitive grants to fund implementation of projects identified in these integrated regional plans. (Davis)

MARKETING Research has found that promoting a more healthy active lifestyle because of its health benefits and because it is suggested by the surgeon general only goes so far, and probably only reaches an audience likely to already be focusing on maintaining health. Furthermore, these messages may be ignored by or discourage others who deem exercise a chore or just not their ‘cup of tea’. Thus, the careful marketing of the remerging health policy as a return to daily activities from a simpler time in life, like grandparents talk about, is a key approach to pitching these initiatives successfully. Some folks have forgotten that if you walk to school, or bike to run errands, or start senior walking clubs, that you’ve already gotten your exercise for the day just going about your normal lives. You don't have to buy special clothes, fancy equipment or schedule in the chore of exercise, just make it part of how you travel through life and it becomes habit. And that is what this is all about ultimately, habits. Getting off course, moving faster, becoming less connected to others, and focusing on the wrong goals led marketers to design a new active living game. Geo caching is a growing

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trend where families search for treasures in the environment and keep an ‘active passport’ logging all their efforts, finds, miles, and treasures. It really gets families moving outdoors together and having fun. Hart County has recreation, parks, a fabulous lake that draws tourism, a retiree community looking for activity, numerous annual countywide social events, a busy club of master gardeners, bustling farmer’s holding a seasonal market, historic preservation audio guides of the historic county, (the only one named for a woman in the entire state). These elements could be mapped out and offered as a new way to get around and live in Hart County for those citizens who can’t get to work or preventive health care clinics dependably and at the same time do some active living and get moving and actually get farther! In order to keep safety in mind and clarified for all, GEORGIA BIKES! released the Georgia Bicycle Law Enforcement Pocket Guide. This guide, the first of its kind for Georgia, provides a ready reference about traffic laws and safety standards for law enforcement officers and others who are faced with the task of enforcing traffic laws or investigating crashes that involve cyclists. (Crites) Finally, research shows that funding for the active living initiatives should be focused or increased in rural areas where impoverished communities don't often receive such services to facilitate a more productive daily existence. So everyone needs public access to get to school, work, doctor, library, city hall, parks, and recreation easily. The inventory map shows what Hart County has achieved and highlights areas where it can connect the dots. A point not to be overlooked in connecting this green space inventory is that research indicates that all towns, whether urban or rural, have achieved this successful design of sidewalks, bike paths, multiuse trails, greenways, historic scenic highways connectivity through a collaborative effort in their towns. In every case the partnership includes: local health care centers, school boards, city planners, parks and recreation facilities, and hospitals. These groups must all work together to design or redesign healthy neighborhoods, incorporating active living features in their designs: roadways with ample shoulders and fewer rumble strips, striped bike lanes, multi use paths to parks and schools, bus routes to town centers, hospital shuttles, busses with bike racks, greenways along rivers, streams, and old rail lines, and sidewalks connecting all these elements.

NEXT STEPS Georgia’s green space program In 2000 Governor Barnes approved a program researched and recommended by the green space advisory committee on preserving 20% green space in counties over 60,000 in population with over 800 pop. increases. Although Hartwell does not qualify for funding to do so based on its much smaller population, the DNR chart and map of all counties in Page 14

Georgia identifies a goal for Hart County to preserve 30,154 of its 163,793 acres (13,024 lake + 150,769 land). Counted in green space is heritage preserve and corps of engineer’s federal land which equal 988 and 148 acres respectively. This report is available online and offers a number of guidelines regarding preservation and development that may be useful nonetheless http://www1.gadnr.org/greenspace/description.html. (Barnes)

Design stage Hellmund offers a 5 point guide to beginning the greenway design process and notes that a comprehensive map of all resources is not always the best place to start, but does acknowledge that an overview or environmental scan is helpful as communities begin the following design steps: (Hellmund 217, 254, 261) 1. Identifying potential issues, stakeholders, and preliminary goals 2. Defining a broad region to study 3. Selecting nodes and swaths 4. Selecting alternative alignments and setting widths 5. Implementing and managing

Rails-to-trails conservancy In the fall 2010 issue of the member magazine, President Keith Laughlin surmises from chats with his teenage children that a fairly dramatic cultural shift is underway. “We are witnessing a transition from the auto-dominated American lifestyle of the post-war years to something new – something more grounded and local. At the neighborhood level, demand is growing for more livable communities that emphasize health and quality of life. And as part of that vision, people want the choice of walking, biking, driving, or public transportation…we’ve been tracking how even small changes in transportation infrastructure can lead to huge shifts in the look and feel of a community. More bike lanes here, wider sidewalks there, a rail-trail through the heart of a neighborhood, are all fairly minor adjustments to the visual landscape. Yet these efforts can lead to vastly more active lifestyles, less road congestion and more connected and open communities.” (Laughlin) In April 2010, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy was awarded a grant from the SRAM Cycling Fund and Bikes Belong to build the case for active transportation in rural and small-town America, walking and bicycling beyond the urban centers. This one-year project includes quantitative research, collecting stories, documenting case studies and developing a report. Contact: David Levinger, [email protected] for more information.

Bike shares A growing trend in Europe and even four U.S. cities as of this summer is to provide a supply of shared bikes with numerous return locations across a city that can be used by anyone who inserts a token or user card. Incredible success has been enjoyed and initial hurdles

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overcome such that more cities and municipalities are lining up to provide the service. Rockmart, Georgia set one up based on their proximity to the 63-mile Silver Comet rail-trail that runs through their town. The DASANI Blues Bikes are brand new Trek Cruiser Classic bicycles. They are stored in 18 fully enclosed blue lockers adjacent to the Silver Comet. The program operates on the community bicycle concept with the Rockmart Public Library dispensing key cards that open the lockers. A cyclist simply passes an assigned card through the reader, removes and rides the bike, and returns it to the locker when finished. This is all meant to encourage the community to make healthy lifestyle choices and provide them with another way to get outside, be active, and have fun. The bicycles will be maintained by the Silver Comet Bicycle Club (they received a donation from DASANI to help in doing so). This a local group that has also maintained a section of the Silver Comet for years. Blue Bikes is a new, nationwide effort led by DASANI with the assistance of the Rails-toTrails Conservancy and Trek. It is enabled locally by the City of Rockmart, the Rockmart Public Library, the Silver Comet Bicycle Club, and the Polk County Chamber of Commerce. Among others on hand at the kickoff event, were representatives of Free-Flite Bicycles (who assembled the bikes), the Silver Comet Depot bicycle shop, and GEORGIA BIKES! (Crites) The shared bike idea would be a great supplement to any rail-trail project once connected with a town center, lake, or recreation area.

Active Tourism Peter Norris of Nitty Gritty Bike Club in Athens (Wright) has rides mapped out that a regular group of cyclists in the Athens-Clarke County area use to ride the roads to Hartwell and visit. Active tourism is a fast growing market as Gen-Xers are more active. Mapping the mountain biking trails and the known routes to town from neighboring regions like Athens is a easy way to guide folks to your town to get refreshed after a bike ride, shop a little, enjoy the lake and even camp out and return the next day. Bicycling vacations are all the rage among this set and a local outfitter Chan Powell operates in Watkinsville, www.bicyclingvacation.com, which is nearby enough that Hartwell could work with them to arrange frequent bike/camp outings to the lake. Already there are rides that go to or operate from Hartwell annually, the Ride of the Centuries. Nearby communities host the Tugaloo Bike Tour, the Tugaloo triathlon, the Elberton Cup bike race weekend in late may, and the Twilight Criterium in Athens every April. These attract experienced bicyclists who travel the state scenic highways or other routes when an alternate route is not available but who would certainly support and embrace rail trails or multi-use trails in communities. But anyone can use a trail, seniors could hold walking clubs, youth could bike from school to ball practice, residents could run errands by walking or bicycling and amazingly one downtown parking spot holds something like 12 bikes if a storeowner decides to install a bike rack to welcome them.

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Many travel books exist for this recreation crowd and indeed the Hartwell mountain biking circuit in Payne's Creek was known, as well as the Savannah River Run bike route and the 15 miles of hiking trails in Hart State Park. All of these recreation or active living options become a way for tourists to find Hartwell and to have a reason to not only come to the lake but come into town for dinner and stroll about, ride a trolley to the historic turntable, see a movie on the green, and enjoy the relaxation that retirees and other citizens have come to know and desire. The trails in outlying areas of the county, like at the Gateway Industrial Parks give the residents of those areas a destination for a walking club, or mom’s stroller outings, or pastoral and healthy lunch breaks for employees.

14 Opportunities that building a greenway creates 1. Greenways keep aspects of functioning nature near where people live, no matter how urban the area. 2. Give people access to nature and recreation and thereby facilitate social interaction. 3. Reclaim postindustrial and other degraded areas and thereby serve residents and accommodate natural processes while restoring the land. 4. Link diverse neighborhoods to encourage social interaction and promote environmental justice. 5. Manage for objectives upstream of metropolitan greenways to enhance water quality protection. Similarly, avoid sending exacerbated floodwaters or other problems downstream. 6. Promote objectives away from a greenway in its landscape matrix, rather than considering such areas as totally incompatible and not worthy of attention. 7. Protect linear vegetated areas wherever they occur and especially if they connect large patches of vegetation. 8. Include sustainable managed community gardens, farms, and forests that can replace distant sources of food and materials that rely on heavy inputs of chemical fertilizer, pesticides, and energy. 9. Set aside less environmentally sensitive areas within or adjacent to greenways to meet compatible community needs, such as subsidized housing. 10. Seek out situations where there is social conflict, but where a greenway might be an appropriate vehicle for bringing together diverse perspectives, thereby empowering citizens, identifying common aspirations, and potentially resolving the conflict. 11. Create many short trails that link people to schools and other practical destinations, thus reducing reliance on motorized transportation.

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12. Create along appropriate community-recognized landscape lines, such as irrigation canals, trails, or abandoned railroad corridors to build on the identity they may already hold for residents. 13. Look for possible greenway alignments that already are of interest to diverse, but possibly uncoordinated (or perhaps conflicting groups) and bring these groups together to consider a greenway. 14. Seek out parties who may not think of themselves as greenway proponents, but who may have things to gain from participating or are otherwise in positions to affect the success of a greenway. (Hellmund 261)

RECOMMENDATIONS The main recommendation is that Hart County converts this inventory into a master plan for preserving green space and applies for funding citing active living or community livability goals. A good start would be designing a greenway that provides connectivity between all sites listed in the inventory and incorporates bicycling and pedestrian facilities and public transit like busses with bike racks on the front. There are funding opportunities once a master plan is available for reference. Hart County is part of a regional commission (GMRC) that has developed a regional biking/pedestrian plan, included later in this binder. This report inventories green space, recommends preserving it, offers research to urge future connectivity, and suggests funding to implement these trails, park connections, railbed reuse projects. Additionally, partnering with the neighboring regions is urged for federal funding as well as tying any development in the built environment to active living objectives, the key ones of which the community benefits largely from is reducing childhood obesity and getting seniors active.

Eco-tourism The Scuppernong River Greenway in Columbia, NC is an example of a very successful greenway in a small, rural, sparsely populated, poor county in North Carolina. Despite the county’s situation, it had an overgrown environmental feature in town along a route that unknowing beach-bound tourists passed in droves. Protecting, restoring, and marketing that feature diverted tourists to it and it revitalized the town. The community’s vision developed ecotourism around the pocosin and a river provided the opportunity. The small town success became a regional model drawing collaboration from US Fish & Wildlife, NCDot, Eastern Carolina University and others. (Starnes) Hart County’s railroad turntable could do for Harwell what the pocosin did for Columbia if it were developed into a historically preserved attraction.

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CONCLUSION The need for a meeting point between policymakers in Washington and citizens in their neighborhoods was evident in a July 2010 roundtable on childhood obesity, titled “Keeping Kids Moving,” sponsored by Transportation for America, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center to Prevent Childhood Obesity, The Convergence Partnership and PolicyLink. We’re facing an epidemic of childhood obesity and poor health, and as a few people pointed out, this could very well be a generation of children who live shorter, less healthy lives than their parents if we don’t act now to change things. The shape and structure of streets, sidewalks and the ability to safely use them has an enormous impact on whether children become overweight or obese. Kids get more physical activity and lead healthier lives when they can bike and walk to school, play in local parks and reach recreational opportunities with ease. Among American children between the ages of 10 and 17, 32 percent are overweight or obese, and many are at risk for more serious conditions like type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke. Obesity rates are disproportionately high among low-income and minority children. In search of a solution, many routes invariably lead to transportation policy. (Barry) This document has revealed the most obvious places to connect in Hart County, and neighboring counties to keep in mind, as federal funding is available to areas that use regional collaboration to achieve active living goals and create livable communities. This green space inventory highlights landscape design at several key county park areas and notes other areas for subsequent development and building out more detailed plans as time and assignment permits. Also included are a variety of funding options and opportunities for future green space planning. Hart County has a good start with this inventory which reveals a fair amount of green space and should continue mapping and pursue funding for active living facilities such as railtrails, turntable restoration, connective bike paths, increased public transit, and senior walking clubs along with safe routes to school programs. All of Greene County will walk, bike, or run 1 mile to school along pathways on October 1 in observance of National Bike to School Day. Hart County could organize an event like this next year using the facilities described above once they have been built. A full inventory follows in the appendix.

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Works Cited Active Living By Design. 2010. . Adler, Sy, et al. "Advocating for Active Living on the Rural-Urban Fringe: A Case Study of Planning in the Portland, OR, Metropolitan Area." Journal of Health Politics, Policy & Law (2008): 525-58. Barnes, Governor Roy. Georgia' s Greenspace Program. 2000. . Barry, Sean. Transportation for America Blog. 2010. . Boarnet, Marlon G. "Planning's Role in Building Healthy Cities." Journal of the American Planning Association (2006): 5-9. Cradock, Angie L. et al. "Factors Associated w/Federal Transportation Funding for Local Pedestrian/Bicycle Programming & Facilities." Journal of Public Health Policy (2009): S3872. Crites, David. Georgia Bikes. 2007. . Davis, Stephen Lee. "Transportation in America Blog." 2010. . Furuseth, Owen J. and Thomas Deborah S.K. "Moving from Principles to Policy: Framework for Rural Sustainable Community Development in the United States." Audirac, Ivonne. Rural Sustainable Development in America. Island Press, 1997. Ch.7. Golf Digest. http://www.cateechee.com/. 2010 . Hanson, Royce, and Garry Young. "Active Living & Biking: Tracing the Evolution of a Biking System in Arlington, Virginia." Journal of Health Politics, Policy & Law (2008): 387-406. Hart County Archway. Archway. 2010. . Hellmund, Paul Cawood and Smith, Daniel Somers. Designing Greenways: Sustainable Landscapes for Nature and People. Island Press, 2006. Laughlin, Keith. "The Promise of Active Transportation." Rails to Trails Fall 2010: 2. NEGRC. Northeast Georgia Bike/Ped Plan. Master plan. Athens: NEGRC, 2010. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Active Living Research. 2001. . Starnes, Earl M, et al. "Greenways, Trails, & Rural Sustainability." Audirac, Ivonne. Rural Sustainable Development in America. 1996. 305-324. Wright, Jim. Nitty Gritty Bike Band. 2010. . Page 20

Appendix Hart County Green Space Inventory July 2010 Prepared by Colin Owen Carmen Miranda Tracie Sanchez July 23, 2010

HART COUNTY GREEN SPACE INVENTORY—JULY 2010

Map of green space inventory

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Table of Contents Page 

Gum Branch Mega ramp

4-7



Clay Street Park

8-10



Elberton Hwy Park includes Botanic Garden

11-17



Railroad Turntable

18-19



Tri-County Wellness Park

20-21



Downtown Hartwell Courthouse charrette

22-23



Hart State Park

24-25



Lake Hartwell Dam and Fishing pier

26-27



Gateway Parks I and II

28-31



Bowersville Park

32-33



Reed Creek

34-35



DNR Hunting land and Lake Hartwell shoreline

36-37



Payne’s Creek Mountain Biking Park

38

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Highway 77—Savannah River Run bike route

39



Highway 29 and 17—bikelanes slated in GMRC 2005 bike/ped master plan

40



Railroad lines/corridors—some of which are still in use

41

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Site Name: Mega ramp Physical Address: End of Janna Waller Rd. off Old Hwy 29, Hartwell Coordinates: 34.384355,-82.886043 Size: approx. 18 acres Description: This facility will host large-scale bass tournaments in an attempt to establish Hartwell as a local hotspot for tourists and fishing enthusiasts. Before the site was initially cleared, the contractors were instructed to preserve a 50’ buffer of trees along the waterline of the northwest corner of the site. Due to a miscalculation, virtually all of these trees were removed. The goal of the proposed design is to recreate this buffer in such a manner that when viewed from across the inlet, it appears as it did before development and when viewed from within the site, it blends native species into an attractive backdrop for the fishing tournaments. The design also calls for a welcome sign near the site’s entrance and adjacent plantings. Landscaping for the parking area, shoreline buffers, existing treelines, plant schedules, proposed signage for park and directional areas as well as short term loading zones have all been addressed in this design. Electrical conduits were run previous to this design and are thus in place. The design offers a replanting of erroneously removed vegetation, buffers for entry, shoreline, parking, and similar aesthetics to other park sin the hart county green space inventory to show continuity in design and landscaping. Native plants with concern for low maintenance and seasonal color and local availability have been selected. Use of the site has begun and the planting schedule addresses a desire to quickly gain an aesthetic which can be built upon in future seasons and provides a tournament ready appeal this Fall.

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Mega ramp signage A nautical theme is offered for the signage in the park and the electrical poles as well to tie into the waterfront park setting. Similar style will be used in regards to color and lettering for the park signs that address loading zones, directional flow of boat ramp users, etc.

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Mega ramp entry way Plantings to restore the natural shoreline buffer and entry way are shown here and described in detail in the following plant schedule.

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Mega ramp planting schedule This details what plant to use in what location and when to plant it. The chart addresses both the shoreline buffer and the entry way areas for the mega ramp site.

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Site Name: Clay Street Park Physical Address: 200 Clay Street, Hartwell Coordinates: 34.350167,-82.914741 Size: approx. 26.4 acres Description: Clay Street Park, located minutes from downtown Harwell, is a great multi-use green space. Aside from offering spaces for baseball, tennis and playground, the park also has fields for passive use, pavilions and an indoor Recreational Center. This makes Clay Street an excellent destination for physical fitness and social events, which can take place indoors or outdoors. The park is also equipped with both paved trails and nature trails in the neighboring woods. Also included in the binder are previously produced maps for plantings and trails envisioned for the site.

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Clay Street Park overview The client requested a screen for an adjacent industrial building, a design for the entrance including a new sign. They also asked for a redesign of the parking lot surrounding the Rec. office building. The parking lot was plagued with problems such as an uninteresting entrance with monotonous paving, confusing flow of traffic, as well as an “industrial” look unbecoming of the park atmosphere. The design solutions called for a new stack stone and sand blown sign featuring the new Parks logo, along with an allee of trees with surrounding plants for seasonal color. Also, a couple of evergreen tree masses are utilized to block the views from the park onto the adjacent industrial building.

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Clay Street Park Allee

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Site Name: Elberton Highway Park Physical Address: 1277 Elberton Highway, Hartwell Coordinates: 34.336192,-82.920192 Size: approx. 54.76 acres Description: The Elberton Highway Athletic Fields complex is the newest addition to Hart County’s park system. Situated within the site are four baseball fields with amenities, a concession stand, a parking lot and the county botanical gardens. Currently, very few landscaping features have been installed and those that were are in very poor condition. The primary design goal for this site is to create a new plant palette for the park’s entry road that is both visually enticing and extremely low maintenance. The county also requested a design for a monument-style entry sign that could be used throughout the county to give consistency to the park system. In addition to the entryway, there was also an ongoing problem with interference from vehicle headlights during ball games, an issue that will be addressed through planting design.

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Elberton Highway Park Overview

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Elberton Highway Park entry signage

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Elberton Highway Park entry boulevard

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Elberton Highway Park signage This variation offers a county wide design model separate from the Gum Branch mega ramp sign on page 5, but the county might choose to have the same consistent design for all green space signage to show connectivity and continuity through an impressive number of sites.

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Elberton Highway Park parking

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Elberton Highway Park planting schedule

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Site Name: Railroad turntable Physical Address: 300 E. Howell St. (located on property of Hartwell United Methodist Church), Hartwell Coordinates: 34.352755,-82.937817 Size: approx. 10.23 acres Description: Railroad turnaround device consisting of rail lines, concrete pourings,, vegetation, and remains of timbers and other elements. Two abandoned rail cars sit on tracks at site.

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Railroad turntable photos

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Site Name: Tri-County Wellness Park Physical Address: Skelton St, or Hartwell St. Royston Coordinates: 34.2902,-83.099354 Size: approx. 43.48 acres Description: Wellness Park- Still in its first phase of construction the Tri-County Wellness Park is a joint venture between many funding partners, which promises to contribute much to the surrounding communities. When finished the park will include amenities such as bathroom facilities, pavilions and walking trails. The park is easily accessed from a state highway and will eventually have its own parking lot. Phase 1 plans include walking and nature trails with most grading already done, tree acquisition underway, and bids for asphalt providers in progress.

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Tri-County Wellness Park photos

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Site Name: Downtown Hartwell Physical Address: Hartwell Coordinates: 34.353014,-82.932356 Size: approx. 4.6 sq miles (based on 2000 census) Description: Downtown Hartwell is a charming example of small city in the Southeast. It offers local businesses and eateries as well as open green areas. The central square features the courthouse and its surrounding gardens, which house several memorials for the town’s Military servicemen. Other downtown attractions include classic Southern architecture, comfortable walk-able sidewalks, and an outside amphitheater. Also included in the binder is the original Courthouse charrette conducted in 2004.

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Downtown Hartwell photos

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Site Name: Hart State Park Physical Address: 300 Hart Park Rd. Coordinates: 34.379505,-82.911161 Size: approx. 147 acres Description: Hart State Park is a perfect destination to enjoy the Lake. Floating docks and ramps give easy access to swimmers, boaters and fisherman alike, while the campgrounds make it easy to enjoy the nature and stay close to the lake. Amenities include camping and 15 miles of multi-use trails currently minimally staffed yet open year round.

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Hart State Park photos

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Site Name: Hartwell Dam Physical Address: 300 5625 Anderson Highway (U.S. Hwy 29), Hartwell Coordinates: 34.357062,-82.821627 Size: n/a Description: The Hartwell Dam is a perfect example of multi-purpose use. The dam, which created the infamous Hartwell Lake, serves as a source of electricity and its surrounding natural scene is a park and a local fishing destination. At the base of the dam is the fishing pier which features the best trout fishing in the area and pocket parks connected through trails. You can swim, wade, or even just enjoy the wildlife from the shoals.

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Hartwell Dam photos

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Site Name: Gateway Industrial Park I Physical Address: Corner of I-85 and GA Hwy 77, Lithonia Coordinates: 34.4684,-83.065317 Size: approx 121.23 acres Description: Gateway is Hart County’s biggest office park. But this site is not a typical industrial site; Gateway incorporates economic development and outdoors activities. Between the proposed buildings is a comprehensive system of trails and open green space to be used by community members as well as employees of the manufacturing businesses Gateway houses. The site itself is visible and easily accessible from Interstate highway 85. Also included in the binder are previously produced maps for plantings and trails envisioned for the site.

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Gateway Industrial Park I photos

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Site Name: Gateway Industrial Park II Physical Address: Corner of I-85 and GA Hwy 77, Lithonia Coordinates: 34.472009, -83.055017 Size: approx. 116 acres Description: Gateway is Hart County’s biggest office park. But this site is not a typical industrial site; Gateway incorporates economic development and outdoors activities. Between the proposed buildings is a comprehensive system of trails and open green space to be used by community members as well as employees of the manufacturing businesses Gateway houses. The site itself is visible and easily accessible from Interstate highway 85. Also included in the binder are previously produced maps for plantings and trails envisioned for the site.

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Gateway Industrial Park II photos

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Site Name: Bowersville Park Physical Address: GA Hwy 51, near Bowersville Coordinates: 34.369942,-83.07701 Size: approx. 10 acres Description: City park with large picnic pavilion, hiking trails and forested trail bridges.

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Bowersville Park photos

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Site Name: Reed Creek Physical Address: Reed Creek Hwy, near Boleman Hill Rd., Hartwell Coordinates: 34.449463,-82.924486 Size: approx. 16.65 acres Description: Reed Creek would serve as a perfect open green space in the community. It is currently only a field surrounded mostly a forest edges an a state highway, but if acquired it could be a passive use field with functionality for organized sports games, as well as informal social gatherings. The area is located in a low-density rural setting and neighbors a church.

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Reed Creek photo

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Site Name: DNR Hunting Property Physical Address: Jones Rd., Hartwell Coordinates: 34.298373,-82.856827 Size: approx. 993.19 acres Description: Forested acreage and grassy fields used for hunting.

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Site Name: DNR Lake Hartwell Shoreline Physical Address: Lake Hartwell Coordinates: Size: approx. Description: over 220 miles of Lake Hartwell shoreline in Hart County

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Site Name: Payne’s Creek Mountain Biking Park Physical Address: Payne’s Creek @ Ramp Road, Hartwell Coordinates: 34.47917, -82.97528 Size: approx. Description: Payne’s Creek Mountain Biking Park – slated to be developed at Campground by COE. http://www.lakefronthartwell.com/recreation/cycling/coe-to-build-mountain-bike-trail-at-paynescreek.shtml

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Site Name: Hwy 77 Savannah River Run Bike Route Physical Address: Hwy 77., Hart County Coordinates: Size: approx. 286 miles Description: Savannah River Run at SR 77. This 286-mile Savannah River Run bike route passes thru Hart County as it roughly parallels the course of the mighty Savannah river from its headwaters high in the Blue Ridge Mountain Foothills to a beautiful sea island on the Atlantic coast. The terrain is varied; starting with steep mountain inclines, then through the rolling hills of the midlands and down to the flatlands of the coastal region.

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Site Name: Hwy 29 and 17 bike lanes or shoulders Physical Address: Hwys 29 & 17., Hart County Coordinates: Size: approx. 19.41 miles Description: In GMRC 2005 bike/ped master plan...on-road bicycle facilities (paved bike-safe lanes or shoulders) are proposed for the following highways: SR 8 (US 29)- This project is approximately 19.41 miles in length and begins in downtown Royston at the Hart/Franklin county line. It extends easterly along SR 8/US 29 to the City of Hartwell where it connects with SBR 85/Savannah River Run at SR 77. It continues thru downtown Hartwell where it picks up back on SR8/US 29 and travels east to the South Carolina state line. The project is a potential connection with Anderson, South Carolina. SR 17- This project is approximately 3.04 miles in length and begins at the Franklin/Hart county line just north of Bowersville. It extends south along SR 17 and zigzags in and out of Hart County as it passes thru Bowersville and Canon where it ends at the Franklin/Hart county line.

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Site Name: Hartwell Railroad lines Physical Address: Royston to Bowersville to Hartwell Coordinates: 34.369942,-83.07701 Size: approx. Description: Existing railroad lines, consisting of a short line that connects to CSX and Norfolk Southern. Segments of which offer an unused corridor that could be acquired for a rail-to-trails path project offering a safe, paved, off-road route for transportation and recreation into Hartwell for joggers, walkers, cyclists.

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