East Coast Greenway
|
|
The East Coast Greenway, or ECG, is a project to create a 2,600-mile urban path linking the major cities along the Atlantic coast of the United States, from Maine to 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 completed in 2010. The American Tobacco Trail is one of many Rails-to-Trails projects which form sections of this greenway.
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.
Route
Major cities connected by the spine route are:
- Calais, Maine
- Bangor, Maine
- Portland, Maine
- Portsmouth, New Hampshire
- Boston, Massachusetts
- Providence, Rhode Island
- Hartford, Connecticut
- New Haven, Connecticut
- New York City, New York
- Trenton, New Jersey
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Wilmington, Delaware
- Baltimore, Maryland
- Annapolis, Maryland
- Washington, DC
- Richmond, Virginia
- Durham, North Carolina
- Raleigh, North Carolina
- Fayetteville, North Carolina
- Wilmington, North Carolina
- Charleston, South Carolina
- Savannah, Georgia
- Jacksonville, Florida
- Miami, Florida
- Key West, Florida
There is also a coastal alternate route that connects Richmond to Wilmington by way of Virginia Beach, Virginia.
External links
- East Coast Greenway (http://www.greenway.org/)
- The American Tobacco Trail is a project of the Triangle Rails to Trails Conservancy (http://www.triangletrails.org).
- The Department of Transportation's page on Millennium Trails (http://www.dot.gov/mtp/)