A greenway is a corridor of open space. Greenways vary greatly in scale—from narrow ribbons of green that run through rural, suburban, and urban areas to wider corridors that incorporate diverse natural, cultural, and scenic features. They may follow old railways, streams, shorelines, or other natural formations. Greenways can even be completely water-based, designed as a network of connected waterways. Some greenways are designed for recreation and transportation, accommodating motorized and non-motorized uses on land and water. Other greenways conserve natural infrastructure for the benefit of the community, economy, and environment; and may or may not be designed for human passage.
Greenways do not take away the rights of property owners nor restrict development in their region. Instead, the greenway network promotes sustainable development, reduces development costs, and reduces the burden of providing services on local, county, and state governments.
Recreation and Transportation Greenways
These greenways provide opportunities for fitness, health and wellness, recreation, transportation, accessing the outdoors, and includes:
• Shared Use Paths (Rail-Trails)
• Safe Routes to Schools
• Bike Lanes
• Shared Roadways
• Single Track (Mountain Biking)
• Hiking Trails
• Equestrian Trails
• Water Trails
• Snowmobile Trails
• ATV Trails
Natural System Greenways
These greenways conserve land for hunting and fishing, water resource protection, stormwater management and flood control, wildlife habitat, air quality improvement, conservation of threatened/endangered plants and animals, and includes:
• Habitat of Rare, Threatened & Endangered Plants/Animals
• Steep Slopes, greater than 25%
• Interior Forest Blocks
• Hydric Soils
• Important Bird Areas
• Important Mammal Areas
• Wetlands
• Floodplains
• Streamside Buffers
• Exceptional Value Streams
• Wilderness Trout Streams
• High-Quality Cold Water Fisheries
• Exceptional Value Watersheds
• Class A Wild Trout Streams
For more information on greenways, visit Pennsylvania Greenways or contact Sherry Dumire at sdumire@ncentral.com.