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CSX, trail officials tour rail segments that could link Parkersburg, North Bend

Photo by Evan Bevins From left, Eric Oberg, director of trail development for the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy’s Midwest Region; Paul Elliott, North Bend Rail Trail superintendent; Mark Lewis, president and CEO of the Greater Parkersburg Convention and Visitors Bureau; David Schulte, director of asset development for CSX; Travers Mauldin, northeast regional manager for CSX; and Mark Abbott, chairman of the North Bend Rail Trail Foundation, speak on Wednesday at a section of CSX rail that rail trail supporters hope to purchase to provide a link between the trailhead at Happy Valley and the City of Parkersburg.

PARKERSBURG — A two-mile section of railroad line could be the missing link between the North Bend Rail Trail and the city of Parkersburg.

Representatives of CSX, the North Bend trail, the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, the city and others toured the route Wednesday morning, including an approximately 1.1-mile section the company has abandoned and another section of about the same length that’s under consideration for abandonment and sale. They run along West Virginia 47 from eight-tenths of a mile northwest of Happy Valley to Corning Park at the edge of the city limits.

“This is super news for our community,” Tracy Brown, transportation specialist with the Wood-Washington-Wirt Interstate Planning Commission, said of the potential deal. “We’re going to blow up when this trail is built.”

The North Bend Rail Trail runs through Wood, Ritchie, Doddridge and Harrison counties.

“You could come to Parkersburg, stay in our hotels, shop in our stores, eat in our restaurants, and then ride all the way to Clarksburg on the rail trail,” Parkersburg Development Director Rickie Yeager said.

Photo by Evan Bevins A CSX train travels by Corning Park in Parkersburg Wednesday morning. That section of the railroad is being considered for possible abandonment and could wind up as part of a trail connecting the North Bend Rail Trail to the City of Parkersburg.

For that to happen, the city also has to complete its trail between Point Park and Corning Park.

“Right now it stops at Staunton Pike,” Yeager said. “So there’s a part we would have to improve from Staunton to 47.”

The city is in negotiations with CSX to purchase 5 acres on the Ohio River side of the floodwall to extend the Parkersburg-Ohio River Multiuse Trail toward Vienna to Little Pond Run, Yeager said. The group checked out portions of that trail Wednesday after viewing the potential Rail Trail connection.

David Schulte, director of asset development for CSX, said Wednesday’s visit was part of a “fact-finding mission” to review the areas sought for the trails.

“We’ve been working with them (the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy) for years, and we want to continue working with them and understanding their needs and making sure their needs align with ours,” he said.

Photo by Evan Bevins From left, Mark Lewis, president and CEO of the Greater Parkersburg Convention and Visitors Bureau; Eric Oberg, director of trail development for the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy’s Midwest Region; Kent Spellman, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy consultant; David Schulte, director of asset development for CSX; and Travers Mauldin, northeast regional manager for CSX; gather Wednesday along a railroad track off West Virginia 47 at Brown’s Asphalt where a segment abandoned by CSX meets a still-active segment. North Bend Rail Trail representatives and local officials hope to purchase both segments to link the rail trail to the City of Parkersburg’s trail.

Kent Spellman, a consultant for the conservancy, said the first rail section, which runs from near the Interstate 77 overpass to Brown’s Asphalt, has already been appraised at $200,000. The appraisal for the section from Brown’s Asphalt to Corning Park is expected to be completed by October.

“Now we’re at a point where we can actually combine the two parcels,” said Mark Abbott, chairman of the North Bend Rail Trail Foundation.

The most likely funding source would be a Transportation Alternatives Program grant, which is funded by federal money managed by the West Virginia Department of Transportation, Spellman said. It requires a 20 percent local match, and the foundation is taking the lead on raising that money, he said.

Schulte said the second segment has been used most recently to store rail cars. But he noted it is still considered active, a fact underscored when a CSX train rumbled through moments after the group descended a set of stairs leading to the railroad at Corning Park.

Wednesday’s itinerary for Schulte and Travers Mauldin, northeast regional manager for CSX, included a meeting of the Industrial Heartland Trail Coalition in Clarksburg. Spellman said the coalition is working to realize a 1,400-mile trail system that crosses 48 counties in four states, with links to Cleveland, Ashtabula, Erie, Pa., and Pittsburgh, among others.

The most advanced section of that is probably the corridor from Parkersburg to Pittsburgh, he said.

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