A Vanishing Opportunity

by Robert M. Cleckner National Field Director Bicycle Institute of America

One of the biggest land buying opportunities will be offered by the railroads to parks and recreation authorities soon.

The Web Is Broken

Little more than one hundred years ago, western stories told of railroad agents sent out by the eastern tycoons to build a railroad at any cost. In their zeal to lay the rails, the railroad officials were little concerned with how they got the land. Their feverish goal was to get the railroad to the next town. The web of rails laid across the country reached every town and hamlet. Then came the internal combustion engine with a new way to get from here to there. The steel web was broken. Over-layed with a pattern of concrete highways, the railroad network was snarled and torn to shreds.

Marry In Haste, Repent At Leisure

Some railroads were lucky like the Union Pacific who received grants from the government and later discovered oil on the right of way, or the Santa Fe who found uranium on their properties in New Mexico. Most were not so fortunate. The land they married in haste, they now repent in leisure, and they dream of divorce with a dim eye. Today railroads maintain many miles of right of way although they really own little of it outright. What they do is possess a collection of bits and pieces of title, easement, and various and sundry rights. Now the time to part from some of the land is here. The railroads have found to their sorrow that divorce is neither cheap, easy or quick.

Railroad Pleads Lack Of Support

Richard Taylor, real estate manager for the Chicago North Western Railroad said it when he outlined some of the steps needed for getting a decree divorcing the railroad from the community. Proceedings usually begin with a statement of complaint which proposes that the marriage of the railroad to the community is no longer a happy or harmonious union. The railroad stresses their grievances. The bed has fallen into a bad state of repair and the cost of living with the community far exceeds the expected revenue. They plead lack of support by local business. They contend that their departure would not create a hardship on their dependent employees, and that their absense from the local transportation arena would never be missed. They conclude with the suggestion that everybody would be happier if they call the whole thing off.

Their announced intention to desert is followed by hearings and witnesses, land owners, civic organizations, and business interests defending or condemning inequities according to their interests. During all this time, the railroad continues to diminish its service while acknowledging that abandonment is only being considered and that the land cannot be negotiated until the Interstate Commerce Commission gives their approval to part.

Non-Revenue Track Not Wanted

The Chicago Northwestern Railroad expressed the intent of most railroads when Taylor stated that C.N.W. had some 11,500 miles of track in eleven states. About 7,500 miles of it produced 95 per cent of the revenue; therefore, he said they were questioning the validity of the remaining 4,000 miles of track which produced only five percent of the revenue.

If other railroads follow this line of thinking, the country could get hurt in the rush by the railroads to serve only high revenue areas.

A Stop Gap To Dump Track

"Not so fast," says U. S. Congress, and they set up a stop gap on the scramble to dump track. So now comes the Regional Rail Reorganization Act of 1973. The Act assigned the Railway Association the responsibility of drawing up a plan which would (1) create a financially selfsustaining service in the region; (2) establish an adequate system which would serve the region; (3) establish a high speed passenger service, and; (4) preserve short lines.

They were also told to create a Final System Plan by designating those properties not to be included in their transportation system. They are to identify those lines which are not required to be operated by the Consolidated Rail Corporation which is a non-profit entity created by the government to control all of the railroads in the country.

Illinois Parks and Recreation 10 November/December, 1975

In section 206 (1) (E) of the Final Systems Plan, those railroads which are not required to be operated by the corporation are to be offered to a government entity, or a responsible person for suitable public purposes including highways, other forms of transportation, conservation, energy transmission, education and health facilities or recreation.

The Last Chance To Speak

These properties are not to be sold, leased, exchanged, or otherwise disposed of during a 180 day period beginning on the date of notice of proposed abandonment, unless these rail properties have been offered for the acquisition for public purposes. Here is the first right of refusal, and the last chance to speak.

Certain portions of this Final System Plan have been challenged by the railroads on the grounds that they have not been adequately reimbursed. The matter is now in the hands of The Supreme Court. If and when the railroad problems can be resolved, the Final System Plan will be submitted to Congress for approval.

In any event, railroad abandonment will become available all over the country for the last time. It is also pretty clear that this will be the final opportunity to acquire these lineal greenways. For when this is over, it will be the end.

Where Will The Money Come From?

The greatest bargain in the world is really no bargain at all if there is no money to take advantage of it. Where will the money come from? Here are two straws in the wind.

Bicycle registration is one possible source of revenue for the local communities. Oregon, the first state in the union to set aside highway funds for bike-ways, surfaced with a bill for a state-wide mandatory bicycle registration and licensing program. The program is to be administered by the Division of Motor Vehicles and provides for a $5.00 biennial licensing fee; fifty percent of which will go to the cities on a population basis, and fifty percent to the counties for the construction and maintenance of bikeways. Three-wheeled tricycles and bicycles with diameters less than 20 inches are exempt from the program.

An estimated million bicycles in Oregon is expected to generate three and one half million dollars the first year. Benefits to the bicyclist are an assurance of real police and highway support through the use of the hot line computer system and recognition by the highways that the bicycle is a legitimate vehicle which has a right to the road and is willing to contribute for its use. The bill is co-sponsored by the Oregon Bicycle Advisory Committee, who is optomistic about its passage in the next session. North Carolina, Arkansas, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Maryland, and Pennsylvania are among the other states desiring legislation of this type.

Another hopeful source of funds is the general revenue fund. Fred Young, representative from the 38th District in Ohio is seeking ten million dollars from the general fund to provide matching funds to local governments, cities, counties and townships on an 80/20 basis for the planning, development and construction of bikeways for recreation and functional purposes to encourage bicycling from home to shopping center, short trips to school and to the downtown areas. Other Senators and Representatives are submitting similar bills although for lesser amounts in their state.

Bicycles Fill The Short Haul Gap

The proposition may not be so far-fetched after all. In a review of automobile trips on a national basis made by the Department of Transportation, they quote these figures:

60 per cent of all auto trips are five miles long or less.
40 per cent of all auto trips are four miles long or less.
30 per cent of all auto trips are two miles long or less.
Eight out of ten auto trips are made with only the driver in the car.
56 per cent of all the cars on the road every day of the year carry only one occupant.

Bicycling, they found is approximately five times faster than walking. The bicycle can favorably compete with the private auto for distances of five miles or less in an urban area. Transportation, they said, takes one fourth of all the U.S. energy, and the motor vehicle consumes 75% of it. The good chance that gasoline will jump again makes the pleas for bicycle paths look better every day as an investment in transportation modes.

The Bureau of Outdoor Recreation is enthusiastic about the use of abandoned railroads for greenways and transportation corridors for bicycles and hiking trails. They are alerting communities of every move in the railroad abandonment process; and they back up their enthusiasm with an offer to pay half the tab if the community can come up with the first fifty per cent. Take heed of the biggest and the last opportunity in the world to acquire lands never to become available again.

Illinois Parks and Recreation 11 November/December, 1975