Alternate Greenway routes requested at meeting

The Waynesboro Planning Commission directed the city’s Planning Department at its work session Tuesday to put forth preferred and alternate routes for the Greenway Trail system.

Commissioners, including council representative, Vice Mayor Frank Lucente, said they wanted to see the Greenway routes run closer to the river and away from roads.

“If it starts going down the roads, you might as well call it a roadway,” Lucente said.

Associate Planner Sunny Yang reviewed for the commission the methodology of designating sidewalk routes, bike routes and the Greenway trails as part of an overall multimodal component to the city’s comprehensive plan.

Yang said that there are 34.1 miles of sidewalks in the city, but noted that there are significant gaps in many places – including downtown – and other places that are not accessible for those with disabilities. She said the identification of substandard and broken sidewalks would be the department’s next step.

Commissioner Jeanne McCutcheon said she was dissatisfied that the sidewalks in the area around Port Republic Road have been ignored for more than 15 years.

“I think it’s really about time it stops,” McCutcheon said.

City Planner Michael Barnes said the department would rank where sidewalks were needed, in part, by where it could get “the most bang for the buck.”

Yang also noted that, in creating designated bike riding areas, that it had to take into account all levels of riders from advanced to beginner. She said the city would likely assign bike routes on main routes and put “Share the Road” signs up in neighborhoods.

As for the Greenway, Commissioner Harry Colman called for using the Cliffside alley that runs from Ridgeview Park behind homes on Oak Avenue and comes out near the intersection of Oak Avenue and Locust Avenue. Residents there have said in public meetings they oppose the Greenway trail going there.

Colman said that despite the sign posted at the street entrance to the alley – “Alley Closed to Public Use” – the alley belongs to the entire city, and as such, should be used as part of the Greenway Trail that is going along the South River from the park to the proposed Mill at South River project. He said he didn’t know how the sign got there, but said it was illegal.

“We own this,” Colman said, referring to the alley.

Greg Bruno, vice chairman of the commission, said that once the first part of the Greenway is complete, it would be “the first piece to everything else.”