East Coast Greenway

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East Coast Greenway
American Tobacco Trail
Length	3000 mi (proposed)
Trailheads	Maine to Florida (proposed)
Use	Multi-use

The East Coast Greenway, or ECG, is a project to create a nearly 3000-mile (4828 km) urban path linking the major cities along the Atlantic coast of the United States, from Calais, Maine to Key West, Florida for non-motorized human transportation. It is similar, both in length and conception, to the twelve routes of the EuroVelo project throughout Europe.

Work on ECG began in 1991 and is projected to be substantially completed in 2010. The American Tobacco Trail is one of many Rails-to-Trails projects which form sections of this greenway.

1 History
2 Route
3 Active Segments
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] History

In 1991 a group of cyclists and long-distance trail enthusiasts met in New York City and formed a national non-profit organization, the East Coast Greenway Alliance, or ECGA, to plan and promote a greenway linking existing and planned trails into a contiguous "spine route" between Atlantic coast cities.

In the summer of 1992 the ECGA sent nine cyclists from Boston, New York, Vermont, and Washington, D.C. on a 30-day "exploratory" cycle tour. In June of 1999 the ECG was selected by the White House for designation as a National Millennium Trail.

Between February and June of 2000, the ECG Wave relay transported a bottle of sea water from Key West, Florida up the eastern seaboard to Canada along the route of the ECG. Transportation was entirely non-motorized to celebrate the ECG's selection as a National Millennium Trail and to promote human-powered transportation.

[edit] Route

Major cities connected by the spine route are:

There is also a planned coastal alternate route that connects Richmond to Wilmington, NC by way of Virginia Beach, Virginia, as well as other planned "alternate" routes in Maine, Massachusetts, and Florida

[edit] Active Segments

A sampling of segments of the East Coast Greenway that are currently accessible:

[edit] Rhode Island

The Blackstone River Bikeway between the Massachusetts line and Providence
The Washington Secondary Rail Trail between Cranston and Coventry
The East Bay Bike Path (spur trail) between East Providence and Bristol

[edit] Connecticut

The Moosup Valley State Park Trail from the Rhode Island line to Plainfield
The Airline State Park Trail from Putnam to Windham
The Veteran's Greenway through the borough of Willimantic
The Hop River State Park Trail from Columbia to Bolton
The Charter Oak Greenway from Bolton to East Hartford

[edit] New Jersey

The Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park between New Brunswick and Trenton
Middlesex County Greenway from Fords to Metuchen
Rahway River Parkway through Rahway, Clark, Cranford and Kenilworth in Union County
Elizabeth River Park in Elizabeth
Jersey City Waterfront in Jersey City

[edit] Maryland

The Gwynns Falls Trail in Baltimore^[1]

[edit] North Carolina

The American Tobacco Trail in Durham
The Dunn-Erwin Trail in Harnett County ^[2]
The Cape Fear River Trail in Fayetteville ^[3]

[edit] Florida

The River to Sea Trail (Flagler County)
The Overseas Heritage Trail (partially complete, from Key Largo to Key West)

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

East Coast Greenway
The American Tobacco Trail is a project of the Triangle Rails to Trails Conservancy.
The Department of Transportation's page on Millennium Trails

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