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Walker County TAG Line Background
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Background information for TAG Line in Walker County

Drone footage of TAG Line: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qW6p6rNcFE

Maps:

Initial focus: Chattanooga to Kensington:

But, as the Silver Comet took on more importance and popularity to the south, the concept of a Silver Comet Connector came into play that would potentially connect Chattanooga to Atlanta

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-9tNLEUmITWUWp6dWdxb2FFSzA/view 

Interactive map: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?msa=0&ll=34.59592838828208%2C-85.29600663476562&spn=0.851182%2C1.153564&mid=1vjqmiCwmDy6GeFa23efdKya4H6E&z=10

2013 NW Georgia Regional Commission and Atlanta Regional Commission commissioned ALTA Planning to look at the economic benefits along the Silver Comet corridor and along potential connectors

http://www.bwnwga.org/wp-content/uploads/Silver_Comet_Combined.pdf 

Walker County can be a regional, national and even international

cycling destination

Extremely popular among road riders already

265 routes just from Chickamauga on www.ridewithgps.com 

Already part of the United States Bike Route System: 50,000-mile interconnected network

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29614496

Opportunity to be part of Bikeways of the Scenic South (most surrounding counties are participating)

www.scenicbikeways.com    Shannon Burke: shannon@veloviewbiketours.com 

 

Importance of greenways

4. Recreation

3. Health

2. Transportation

Not just getting bikes off the road

Getting cars off the road due to people riding bikes

1. Economic Development

Influx of money spent, especially from outside the region

Increased property values

Attraction to new residents

Attraction to new or expanding employers

Greenways are economic success stories.

Outer Banks

Ohio and Erie Towpath

Great Allegheny Passage

How the Great Allegheny Passage Transformed a Region | Rails to Trails Magazine 

“Since its formal inception in the 1990s, the 150-mile Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) has gone from a vision to a premier rail-trail destination in the United States. The effort would take nearly two decades, but the results, achieved on a cascading tidal wave of collaboration, sweat equity and unwavering persistence, would help establish a new tourism identity for the once-great industrial region, and spark a new era of entrepreneurship and ingenuity.

“Today the GAP serves as a valued recreation and active transportation asset for communities, and a bucket-list destination for bicyclists and hikers, drawing nearly 1 million visits annually and generating tens of millions of dollars in trail-user spending per year. The trail’s economic and social impact has been furthered by investors willing to take a chance on a new type of progress, and people who saw an opportunity—spurred by the trail—to bet on themselves.”

Virginia Creeper Trail Saved Tiny Mill Town”

https://ecocitiesemerging.org/virginia-creeper-trail-saved-tiny-mill-town/ 

“Bicycle trails are good for business. They attract restaurants, brewpubs and retail shops catering to those who walk or pedal for fun, exercise, and health. When trails connect centers of employment, recreation, education, and culture, they also generate residential development aimed at people who increasingly prefer active transportation to fighting traffic. And when trails are extended and linked with one another, they expand tourism revenue from a growing breed of vacationers who want to get out of their cars and experience places at a more leisurely and enjoyable speed.

“As trails succeed, they increase business activity, employment, wages, property value, income and, importantly, tax revenues in a self-reinforcing upward spiral. Specifically, trail improvements boost trail use which grows trail-adjacent businesses and property investments which, in turn, expand tax revenues and create public support for further trail improvements.

“In 2011, more than half of the commercial respondents reported that trail use generated over 61 percent of their income. The report concluded that Damascus owes its economic success to trail-based tourism, with many local entrepreneurs naming the Virginia Creeper as a motivation for opening a business here.”

Razorback Greenway

"Almost all of the momentum that's been picking up the past year and a half, I really believe it's because of the footsteps that the trail is causing in downtown," said Lisa Ray, vice president of the Downtown Springdale Alliance.

“As a ribbon wraps around a package, these ‘ribbons of commerce’ wrap around our community,” said Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce President Steve Clark.

“Recently named one of the top 10 places to live in 2019, Greenville was not on the map 10 years ago.

“The Swamp Rabbit Trail system is one of the key factors in this town’s success. The history of this railroad turned multi-use path within the Upstate of South Carolina is a long road, or trail, of inspiring community development.

“Travelers Rest, the once sleepy town 15 minutes outside of Greenville, is now a mini epicenter for culinary and brewery excellence. Much of the transformation happening in Travelers Rest is credited to the Swamp Rabbit Trail.”

2013 Silver Comet Connector study

http://www.bwnwga.org/wp-content/uploads/Silver_Comet_Combined.pdf 

Silver Comet by the numbers

Northwest Georgia Feasibility Study for Bikeway & Pedestrian Multi-Use Trails

http://www.nwgrc.org/wp-content/uploads/6.21.17-Northwest-Georgia-Bikeways-Trails.pdf 

 Timeline of the TAG Line 1911-2009

Rail trails by the numbers

TAG Line from Chattanooga to Kensington (click to view)

TAG Line: Chattanooga to Kensington (Rock City/Blowing Springs, Patten Farm, Chattanooga Valley Elementary School, former Chickamauga and Durham Line, High Point, Cloudland Station/Candlelight Forest, Cooper Heights, Kensington

Maps

Chattanooga to Silver Comet (interactive) (click to view)

Chattanooga-Kensington-La Fayette-Rome-Cedartown (95 miles)


ChickChatt Greenway

54-mile loop Riverwalk-Flintstone-Chickamauga-West Chick-Camp Jordan-South Chick Greenway-Riverwalk

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/34851124



Contacts:

Lacey Wilson, President, Walker County Chamber of Commerce, lacey@walkercochamber.com, 706-375-7702

Lisa Heyer,  Broker/owner, BHGRE Jackson Realty, Lisa@LisaHeyer.com 

Jim Johnson: jim@biketours.com, 423-313-5256