
Dear Trail Stakeholders:
It’s hard to believe that another year of advocating for the Veterans Trail has passed – but, of course, it has. Time marches on no matter what. The year 2024 had its ups and downs and saw some organization changes at TASCforce (Trail Advocates of Summit County). We are also looking forward to making progress in 2025.
Review of 2024
As you may recall, TASCforce has been working on the Veterans Trail project. It is a proposal for a 12.5-mile multipurpose trail on the long-abandoned Akron Secondary rail line that would start in Hudson, pass through Stow, Silver Lake, and Cuyahoga Falls, and end at the Northside Station near downtown Akron. The southern 90% is owned by Metro RTA (the bus company in Summit County) and a short section on the northern end is owned by Norfolk Southern. Funding plans are in place for 4.8 miles of the trail, but the project went “off the rails” in 2022. That is when the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) notified Metro RTA that they would not allow the right-of-way to be leased to the communities for the purpose of building a multipurpose trail – as they had previously done with the Freedom Trail. Rather, FTA stated that Metro RTA would either have to pay back the grant money FTA gave them to buy the rail line or divest of the property by various means approved by FTA.
To meet FTA requirements, an appraisal of the right-of-way was completed in early 2024 and submitted to FTA for their review and instructions as for the next steps. Metro has no idea how long this will take or what outcome to expect. And, as you might expect, the change in administration in Washington is having an impact.
To help facilitate a resolution with FTA, TASCforce has been in contact with the offices of our federal elected officials Senator Sherrod Brown and Congresswoman Emilia Sykes. As Chairman of the senate committee with oversight over the FTA, Senator Brown connected TASCforce with a senior advisor in Washington over the summer. He met with FTA staff and management to discuss the decision and FTA agreed to review the matter. TASCforce has been awaiting a response from FTA since then. Unfortunately, with the 2024 political campaigns and election in the fall and transition of several elected and appointed officials, contact with the senior advisor and the FTA has stopped. TASCforce is seeking to reestablish contact in the new year.
But there is some good news. The northernmost part of the trail is a 1-mile section owned by Norfolk Southern. Hudson City Officials had a discussion with NS about acquiring this section and NS expressed an interest. Negotiations continued throughout the year and the two parties reached a purchase agreement in November. Hudson City Council has unanimously approved the purchase, and the agreement is being finalized.
And on another front, TASCforce received an inquiry from the Village of Boston Heights about the Heights-to-Hudson Trail that would connect the Summit Bike and Hike Trail in Boston Heights to the Veterans Trail in Downtown Hudson. We gave a presentation at their Village Council Meeting about the benefits of the proposed trail and connections to the regional trail network and we are continuing to encourage both Boston Heights and Hudson to build this trail.
Also, in December of 2024, TASCforce had a discussion with the Director of Planning for the City of Akron about the very southernmost section of the Veterans Trail connecting North Arlington Avenue to the Northside Station near downtown. The City of Akron recognizes the many benefits of trails but has significant concerns about funding the construction and maintenance of the Veterans Trail. We expect to have more conversations about these issues and we hope to get their formal support for the Veterans Trail.
And lastly, there were some organizational changes to the TASCforce Board around the end of the year 2024. Bill Sepe has stepped down from his role as Co-Director in order to start a chapter of another non-profit called 3 Wheel Therapy. (https://www.3wheeltherapy.org/) However, he will continue to serve on the TASCforce Board representing the City of Stow. Replacing Bill in the Co-Director role is Austen Rau. Austen has been an active member of the TASCforce Board and made significant contributions to the trail project. And finally, we welcomed Erik Azevedo as a new board member from Cuyahoga Falls.
Plans for 2025
TASCforce will continue to track the progress of negotiations between Metro RTA and the Federal Transit Administration. We plan to continue working with Congresswoman Sykes’ office and build a relationship with Senators Bernie Moreno and Jon Husted in the Senate. We will also continue to evaluate other strategies to encourage FTA to render a decision favorable to the Veterans Trail. And we will continue to communicate with and provide support to the communities along the Veterans Trail.
These objectives will benefit by demonstrating public support for trails in Summit County. Thanks to everyone who has signed up on our website. Please encourage your friends and acquaintances to sign up as well. We may be enlisting your more active support to convince various players that trails are something that the citizens of Summit County truly value and support. Let’s work together to show them that that is indeed the case!
Ron Brubaker
Austen Rau
TASCforce Co-Directors
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