NORWAY – A diverse group of more than 30 people came to hear ideas on how to make the Oxford Hills more friendly to walkers and bicyclists.

The event was sponsored by Healthy Oxford Hills, a coalition that has formed a trails committee to work on trails development.

Betsy Goodrich, of the northeastern office of the national Rails to Trails Conservancy, presented a slide show detailing the many benefits of building a trail system in a community.

She said more and more old abandoned railroad corridors are being transformed for walking and biking paths.

“Trails are a good thing. They’re providing something people need and want,” she said. They not only provide a way for people to get exercise, but they give people an alternative way to make trips other than using cars.

With the advent of the automobile as the primary means of transportation, “we’ve convenienced exercise right out of our lifestyle,” she said. Not only that, she added, “we don’t make it safe to walk around” by not providing maintained trails and pathways.

Trails that end in commercial destinations can provide a convenient way for people to meet and socialize. She called such trails a “great linear park that people find really desirable. Trails are America’s new front porch.”

Norway Town Manager David Holt said Norway is taking an active role in revitalizing its sidewalk system. This summer, a bike path will be created along Beal Street near the old railroad bed when road reconstruction is complete, and the sidewalks will be redone, he said.

In addition, he said, thanks to the efforts of Norway Recreation Director Debra Partridge, a bike path will be created from downtown Norway to the town-owned Pennesseewassee Lake Park, along Route 118.

Trails are a great way of pointing out the history of a community, and can be a draw for tourists, Goodrich said.

Finding the money to fund a trail system can be challenging, Goodrich said. “Multi-use trails can be expensive – in the millions of dollars,” she said. However, she said the money is out there, and enterprising communities working together can find the needed funding.

One particularly important source of funding for trail systems is the federal Transportation Enhancement Project, which provides “the biggest chunk of money” nationally for trail systems, she said. The program requires a 20 percent community match, and the next application deadline is July of 2004.

Holt, citing a failed effort several years ago in Norway to build a rails-to-trails walkway, said “not everybody loves trails. Some folks are very apprehensive about them,” assuming a trail will “bring all kinds of strangers by your doorstep.”

Goodrich said some communities have overcome that concern by building fences next to trails that border residential homes. She said it’s important to create a maintenance program to go along with a trail.

“Because trails are used all day long, the more eyes you have on it, the less you’re going to see problems,” she said. Many communities have developed “adopt a trail” programs that have worked well, she added.

ggeraghty@sunjournal.com