New Community Project Plans Harrisonburg Bike Path

Members of New Community Project gather to plan the bike route. Pictured in the background is Tom Benevento (far right), and senior Jakob zumFelde (back, right of center). (Photo: North End Greenway)

Anyone who has ever attempted to walk or bike along Route 42 toward downtown Harrisonburg amidst busy late afternoon traffic knows it can be a harrowing experience. Thanks to New Community Project’s budding plans for an extended bike path through the city, there is hope of a safer, more enjoyable alternative.

The idea began as part of a larger-scale Bicycle & Pedestrian Plan for the city, created in 2002. Although the original idea was too complicated and expensive to implement at the time, New Community Project and various individuals have taken on the project of developing a reduced-length, but still substantial, bike path through Harrisonburg.

New Community Project is a nonprofit, faith-based organization working towards community, peace, and sustainable living, focusing especially on various aspects of gardening and transportation.

Tom Benevento, one of five leaders of the NCP effort to create North End Greenway, envisions the project as a “crucial and tangible way we can begin now to create a more sustainable and healthy way of living”.

Jakob zumFelde, EMU senior, is working with the North End Greenway project as an Environmental Science Practicum through New Community Project. zumFelde explains, “I’ve done things such as contacting landowners, talking with city staff about legal issues, and helping create a cost estimate to know how much money it would take to make this happen.” Lars Åkerson, EMU alumnus, is also working with the project.

The path will extend approximately 1.5 miles from the Park View area near EMU into downtown Harrisonburg.Åkerson says, “We’re close to an agreement with landowners about a precise route, but it will loosely follow Black s Run.”

The North End Greenway would benefit EMU students, Eastern Mennonite School students, and Park View and VMRC residents by enabling safe, sustainable methods of transportation. While the busy traffic from EMU to downtown currently infringes somewhat dangerously on space for walking or biking at the edge of roads, the bike path will provide an alternative place to travel by bike or on foot.

As Åkerson says, “Walking or biking on Chicago or 42 is not for the faint of heart!”

EMU students who are interested in sustainable transportation will find it easier to travel around Harrisonburg without using vehicles. The North End Greenway will provide a safe, inexpensive route to downtown, in a setting that is naturally beautiful. Benevento says, “The North End Greenway will increase our ability to access more sustainable, carbon-free, and healthy forms of transportation.”

The advocates for North End Greenway are currently in the process of planning, raising funds, and approaching city officials. Although many factors are still unknown, zumFelde estimates that the path will be completed within the next two to three years.

Students can help by spreading the word, helping with fundraising efforts, and attending any future city council meetings about the path. There will be many opportunities to be involved as the process of solidifying plans continues. Åkerson says, “It’s a long process, and there are many hoops to jump through, but we’re confident that now is the right time to be doing this.”