Piedmont Greenway Master Plan - Town of Kernersville

The status of local lines could change in the future, depending on freight demand, and short-line railroads
could be abandoned with only a brief public notice to indicate their intent. Therefore, all railroad lines in the
region should be monitored periodically to determine their current status.
the street system. Disadvantages include proximity to automobile traffic, lack of pedestrian scale,
narrow roads and high volume intersections. Retrofitting public roadways for bicycle and pedestrian
use must be coordinated with the appropriate local and state departments of transportation.
Once a railroad has formally registered its intent to abandon a specific line, the rail bed can be preserved
as a corridor for trail use through “rail banking.” The rail-banking program was created through the 1983 National
Trails System Act to allow for conversion of rail lines for trail use. The window of opportunity for filing
for rail banking requests is relatively narrow. If a line is rail-banked, the corridor is treated as if it had not
been abandoned, and as a result the integrity of the corridor is maintained and this stops reversions to adjacent
landowners. However, the line is subject to possible future restoration of rail service.
Even if railroad lines are not abandoned, they can still be utilized as trail corridors in the future under
a concept called “rails-with-trails.” Developing a rail-with-trail involves installing a multiuse public trail
alongside an active railroad track in a way that is safe to all users. This approach is becoming an increasingly
important tool in trail building efforts across the country, according to Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, an
organization that has published a study evaluating 16 existing rails-with-trails. The study, “Rails-with-Trails:
Sharing Corridors for Recreation and Transportation,” found that appropriately designed rails-with-trails are
highly successful and extremely safe. (Source: Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, www.railtrails.org)
On-Road Corridors
In urban areas, greenway systems
inevitably connect to the existing street
system. In many cases, local streets are the
only linear corridors available for bicycle
and pedestrian use. Therefore, the most
successful greenway systems across the
country combine off-road trails with an
extensive on-road system of bicycle facilities
and sidewalks. This type of network
best suits the needs of people who bicycle
and walk for transportation reasons since
all major destination points connect directly
to the street system.
Some advantages of this approach include
availability of publicly owned land,
presence of paved shoulders and wide
outside lanes along some roads, ease of
access and use and public familiarity with
PIEDMONT GREENWAY
Final Master Plan Report 21