Downtown Greenway receives $15,000 grant to complete the final mile

Project is one of eleven in the country to awardees of the highly competitive Rails-to-Trails Conservancy’s 2021 Trail Grants Program totaling $145,000.  The Downtown Greenway received a $15,000 grant from the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy 2021 Trail Grants Program.

The RTC Trail Grants program awarded $145,000 in total to fill critical trail gaps, with an emphasis on regional and community development goals. Among the awards included $60,000 in Doppelt Family Trail Development Fund Grants to bring forward the vision for the cross-country Great American Rail-Trail™, a developing 3,700-mile trail that connects across 12 states between Washington, D.C., and Washington State.

The 2021 Doppelt Family Trail Development Fund Grants winners will contribute to the development and maintenance of the gaps along the Great American Rail-Trail. Recipients include the following:

• Cedar Trails Partnership (Iowa), receiving a $10,000 Doppelt Fund matching grant to help rehabilitate a 1.5-mile section of trail closed due to flood damage
• Yellowstone Historic Center (Montana), receiving a $10,000 Doppelt Fund grant for the conversion of a 9-mile abandonment along the Yellowstone Shortline Trail into a multi-use path from the Montana–Idaho border
• Headwaters Trail System (Montana), receiving a $10,000 Doppelt Fund matching grant to support the development of the 0.8 mile remaining to complete a 12-mile network in Gallatin County to connect the Headwaters Trail, as part of the preferred route of the Great American Rail-Trail
• Northwest Nebraska Trails Association (Nebraska), receiving a $10,000 Doppelt Fund grant for the Cowboy Trail Connection’s development of engineering documents for construction of the first miles of Cowboy Trail Connection into Chadron in Dawes County
• Rails-to-Trails of Wayne County (Ohio), receiving a $10,000 Doppelt Fund matching grant to complete a 1.6-mile gap between two sections of the Heartland Trail
• Peninsula Trails Coalition (Washington), receiving a $10,000 Doppelt Fund grant to support a consultant for the Olympic Discovery Trail, as part of the preferred route of the Great American Rail-Trail in Jefferson and Clallam counties.

The 2021 Trail Grants Program recipient list emphasizes investments in projects with the potential to strengthen or connect trails in five communities nationwide. The recipients include:

• Downtown Greenway (North Carolina), receiving a $15,000 RTC Trail Grant to support the completion of a final 1-mile rail-trail section
• Friends of the Salem Bike-Ped Corridor (New Hampshire), receiving a $10,000 RTC Trail Grant to construct a trail segment, trailhead and amenities
• New Jersey Rail-Trail Projects, receiving $60,000 in RTC Trail Grants, including $20,000 to the New Jersey Bike-Walk Coalition to advance community engagement for the Essex-Hudson Greenway trail and $10,000 to the Embankment Preservation Coalition to advance the proposed 1-mile trail along the Harsimus Stem Embankment

“The RTC Trail Grants Program offers support to projects that are often not funded otherwise and are left out of traditional funding streams. These grants often fill critical gaps—both in trail development and funding—delivering returns on investment that bring lasting benefit to communities,” said Ryan Chao, president of RTC.