Please write a letter to support a bicycle pedestrian pathway along Westchester Avenue in New York!
This spring's letter writing campaign to the Westchester County Executive was a huge success - thanks to all of you who took the time to write!
The letters convinced the County Executive to permit County Planning to apply this year for Transportation Enhancement funds
to create a multi-use pathway along Westchester Avenue.
The County Executive and the ECG are now asking for a second letter to help support County Planning's application.
The more support and letters Planning can send in along with the application, the better the chance of receiving funding.
County Planning's 2006 application for funding was not granted - it lacked the necessary public support.
With your help we feel this pathway can become a reality.
Feel free to be creative and give examples of how trails and the East Coast Greenway have benefited your local community.
You can also use the letter below as a template.
Contact Mike Oliva (mike@greenway.org) if you have any questions or if you would like to
join the New York Committee for the East Coast Greenway.
Please encourage your friends to write letters and pass this on to anyone else who can help support this great project!
Please send the letter to:
Lukas Herbert
Associate Planner
Westchester County Department of Planning
148 Martine Ave. Room 432
White Plains NY 10601
Andrew Spano
Westchester County Executive
148 Martine Ave.
White Plains NY 10601
Congresswoman Nita Lowey
222 Mamaroneck Ave. # 310
White Plains NY 10605
Michael Oliva
East Coast Greenway Alliance
197 N. Washington St. # 2
Sleepy Hollow NY 10591
(Begin copying the letter here)
Lukas Herbert
Associate Planner
Westchester County Department of Planning
148 Martine Ave. Room 432
White Plains NY 10601
Dear Mr. Herbert:
I am writing to you to express my support for Westchester County's application for Transportation Enhancements Funds for the Westchester Avenue
non-motorized multi use trail facility.
- Westchester County currently has no east-west oriented trailway, which makes it difficult for non-motorized mobility in the county.
- A Westchester Avenue non-motorized facility will connect with other trailways, greatly enhancing the origin and destination combinations
available to non-motorized modes of travel
- This facility would provide non-motorized access to the southeast portion of the county which is currently underserved in terms of trail
facilities that accommodate bicycles and pedestrians.
- This facility would provide direct non-motorized access to the many employment and educational sites along Westchester Avenue
(also known as Platinum Mile), and could significantly reduce car trips to those locations.
- This facility would increase multi-modal travel by connecting to local bike routes in White Plains which will provide a direct connection
to the White Plains train station and Transcenter.
- This connection would also serve as a critical link for the East Coast Greenway. The East Coast Greenway Alliance was
founded in 1991 to develop a continuous multi-use pathway for bicyclists, walkers, and other muscle powered users stretching from
Maine to Florida. Today the Greenway is 20% complete using firm-surfaced trails to connect the major cities of the eastern seaboard.
In 2007 the ECG created its current travel route which links these completed pathways with safe on-road routing to complete the
Greenway route on an interim basis. The Alliance, a national nonprofit organization 5000 members strong and growing, works
with organizations and agencies at the local, state, and national levels a develop a 100% off road multi-use path.
- The Transportation Enhancements Program is a competitive funding program with many applicants. Given the limited
funding of the program, it is important to choose projects with the greatest return for money spent. Since the Westchester
Avenue non-motorized facility has enormous potential to expand non-motorized mobility to urban centers, transit hubs,
employment sites and schools and because it will connect to the County's existing trail network, it should be given priority for funding.
Sincerely,
Your name
Cc:
Andrew Spano, Westchester County Executive
Nita Lowey, Congresswomen-New York-District 18, United States Congress
Michael Oliva, Mid Atlantic Trail Coordinator, East Coast Greenway Alliance