The Great Allegheny Passage has turned into a gold mine for communities who are watching money roll into their western Maryland and Pennsylvania towns two wheels at a time.
Time and time again it has been shown that rail-to-trail projects are a big draw for bicyclists, and longer networks like this one draw bike tours with people who need food and lodging.
The 150-mile GAP bike trail hooked up with the 186-mile C&O Canal towpath in late 2006, creating an off-road bike tour route all the way from Washington DC to McKeesport (and into Pittsburgh later this year).
Benefits
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported some of the “unexpected” benefits of the GAP. It says a 2007 economic impact study found the trail already is plowing $12.5 million into local economies, including $3 million in wages.
“In 2007, Somerset County officials counted 31 new businesses started as a direct result of the Great Allegheny Passage. The Trail Town Program, an arm of the non-profit Progress Fund and supported by government and foundation money, helped start 11 new businesses last year alone. Halfway into 2008, Trail Town has aided eight more, and assisted with another two.”
Among those businesses in West Newton is the Trailside convenience store and diner, opened in 2006 just 20 steps from the trail. It now employes 27 workers.
“Two years — and one damaging fire — later, the business has tripled its sales, added a patio for outdoor dining, and fielded countless phone calls from other entrepreneurs looking for advice on starting a business along the trail.”
The GAP is made up of several trails that were completed at different times over the years. Back in 2002, before GAP joined the C&O towpath, the Trail Towns Program said 350,000 people used part of the trail. This year that's expected to top 1 million.
Bicycling
Although not all the users are cyclists, the majority are on two wheels. In addition to all the independents heading north and south, at least four organized bicycle tours were scheduled on the route this year — two from Adventure Cycling Association, the Yockatomac Trek and Venture Outdoors.
The GAP is no exception.
Last fall I wrote about a Rails-to-Trails Conservancy report on the Pine Creek Trail in northern Pennsylvania. That study estimated that trail use contributed $5 million to $7 million a year to the economy.
Sixty-four percent of the Pine Creek Trail users were bicyclists.
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[…] GAP has created an economic stimulus to a region where jobs can be scarce. In 2007, for instance, a study found the fledgling trail system already was responsible for $12.5 million a year into local economies, […]
[…] DC into the countryside has drawn hundreds, if not thousands, of bicyclists on overnight trips. Studies found that the bicycle traffic has stimulated the economy in small towns along the […]