Supes decide on path funding - GROW has path speaker

Carson City supervisors will decide Thursday what they will tell the state Board of Transportation regarding the proposed freeway multi-use path.

The city's Parks and Recreation and Regional Transportation commissions both voted against a proposal to use city funding from road taxes and Quality of Life money to pay about $1.7 million of the path's estimated $3 million cost.

But the recommendation from those commissions is just that: a recommendation that the Nevada Department of Transportation pay for full cost of the path.

Supervisors will have to take a formal position on funding options for the path.

Supervisors Jon Plank and Kay Bennett made it clear in the April 5 joint commissions meeting they support state funding for the path.

"If not now, when?" Bennett asked in that meeting.

Mayor Ray Masayko said it was important to seriously consider the direction from the two commissions, but that the supervisors need to have a serious discussion before the issue heads to the state.

"This is the only chance this policy making board gets to talk about the prospects, the possibilities and the who, what, where and when and how of this proposal," Masayko said.

As the May 9 date looms for the state to decide if a multi-use path will be included in the freeway's construction, local path proponents are trying to prove they aren't trying to reinvent the wheel.

Gardeners Reclaiming Our Waysides sponsored a luncheon Tuesday where guest speaker, Ken Bryan, Florida director of the National Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, spoke about paths around the country and their benefit in a community.

Bryan quoted Frederick Law Olmsted who more than 100 years ago said, "A connected system of parks and pathways is manifestly far more complete and useful than a series of isolated parks."

Carson City path supporters say the bike path along the freeway will be the spine of the city's bike system, connecting parks and trails throughout the city.

Bryan pointed to bike paths constructed in places like Washington D.C. and in his home state of Florida which have become popular recreation corridors within the communities and are supported by state and county transportation agencies.

"So many people think this can't be done," said Anne Macquarie, president of Muscle Powered." We're not reinventing the wheel here. It's been done in other states. People who get around the country and see this know it can be done."

One of the problems with building trails in many areas, he said, is that "there is no will within transportation agencies to create such a system."

He said that in the United States, roads dictate land use rather than making new transportation technology conform to existing land patterns. Building more roads brings more people which creates more congestion, which creates a need for more roads, creating a never-ending cycle of building pavement, he said.

Bryan noted that paths are associated with an increase in health and fitness and personal security. Businesses and people looking to relocate to an area will look for places with a healthy park system where they can get out with ease.

"It certainly shows that we're not alone," GROW President Mary Fischer said. "We're behind the times a bit. These kinds of problems have hit other communities before and they've found the benefits have weighed any fears they might have had before it began."

If you go:

What: Carson City Board of Supervisors meeting

When: Thursday, 8:30 a.m.

Where: the Community Center's Sierra Room, 851 E. William St.