CHARLESTON, W.Va. - With a new $100,000 federal grant, a promised $2 million earmark and earlier commitments for about $1.3 million, backers of the proposed Kanawha Trestle Trail project on Monday reached out for still more money.

Charleston City Council members approved a resolution Monday that calls for Mayor Danny Jones to sign a $250,000 Transportation Enhancement grant application.

The application seeks to tap the same source - federal "TE" funds - that provided $100,000 late last year, said Dennis Strawn, a spokesmen for the group that has been pushing the project for several years.

Members of Friends of the Kanawha Trestle Trail hope to convert the 100-year-old abandoned railroad trestle that crosses the Kanawha River near Patrick Street to a hiking and biking bridge that will connect to trails on both sides of the river. On the north side of the river, trails would extend west to North Charleston and east through the West Side.

Phase two of the project includes conversion of a second bridge, the old Whipple railroad bridge over the Elk River, and trails to Capitol Market and Laidley Field in the East End.

The friends group is awaiting word from Washington on the status of $2 million that Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., earmarked last year in the Senate Appropriations Committee. The funding must still be approved by the full Senate and House of Representatives.

"I can't even begin to speculate about that," Strawn said Monday. He previously suggested the earmark might stand a better chance of success under a Democratic administration.

Strawn told members of council's Finance Committee that state Highways officials notified him about the $100,000 TE grant on Nov. 21.

Each year the Division of Highways divides up a pool of federal TE money to projects across the state. "We're going back to ask for more," he said.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - With a new $100,000 federal grant, a promised $2 million earmark and earlier commitments for about $1.3 million, backers of the proposed Kanawha Trestle Trail project on Monday reached out for still more money.

Charleston City Council members approved a resolution Monday that calls for Mayor Danny Jones to sign a $250,000 Transportation Enhancement grant application.

The application seeks to tap the same source - federal "TE" funds - that provided $100,000 late last year, said Dennis Strawn, a spokesmen for the group that has been pushing the project for several years.

Members of Friends of the Kanawha Trestle Trail hope to convert the 100-year-old abandoned railroad trestle that crosses the Kanawha River near Patrick Street to a hiking and biking bridge that will connect to trails on both sides of the river. On the north side of the river, trails would extend west to North Charleston and east through the West Side.

Phase two of the project includes conversion of a second bridge, the old Whipple railroad bridge over the Elk River, and trails to Capitol Market and Laidley Field in the East End.

The friends group is awaiting word from Washington on the status of $2 million that Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., earmarked last year in the Senate Appropriations Committee. The funding must still be approved by the full Senate and House of Representatives.

"I can't even begin to speculate about that," Strawn said Monday. He previously suggested the earmark might stand a better chance of success under a Democratic administration.

Strawn told members of council's Finance Committee that state Highways officials notified him about the $100,000 TE grant on Nov. 21.

Each year the Division of Highways divides up a pool of federal TE money to projects across the state. "We're going back to ask for more," he said.

"It's an ongoing process. The $250,000 will get us off the trestle and into the West Side," Strawn said.

Previously, the group secured $800,000 in federal funds through Rep. Shelley Capito, R-W.Va.; a $475,000 commitment from the city; and about $100,000 from other sources, he said.

Also this year, using a $50,000 state participation grant secured by Kanawha County legislators last year, the group plans to do a design study for the East End portion of the trail and the Whipple bridge, Strawn said.

In other business Monday evening, council members approved spending for:

Reach Jim Balow at ba...@wvgazette.com

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