East St. Tammany
BI-PAC Greenway Alliance
St Tammany Parish President, Kevin Davis, a visionary, saw the need for stand alone trails for work, play and urban trips when he initiated the St Tammany Parish Rails to Trails program. Davis's rails to trails conversion became the Tammany Trace, a scenic 31 mile recreational and transportation corridor originating in Covington, Louisiana with terminus in Slidell, Louisiana. The Tammany Trace is used by pedestrians, cyclists, rollerbladders, joggers and equestrians. Thanks Mr Davis, we appreciate your vision.
Originally this interurban greenway made its way from Abita Springs to Mandeville. Later, three additional communities along the northshore of Lake Pontchartrain were connected: Covington, Lacombe, and unincorporated Slidell. There is interest now to bring this Tammany Trace into downtown Slidell while connecting the rest of Slidell and Pearl River to the trace via share the road routes with signage, pavement markers and blinking lights at dangerous intersections.
In the Fall of 2007, Sue deRada, BI-PAC Founder, gave a presentation at the Slidell Master Plan meeting to determine citizen interest and response. "With this presentation came a commitment to move forward in establishing share the road routes from east to west Slidell, terminating at Heritage Park's proposed Trailhead, the eventual terminus of the Tammany Trace," deRada promises. A citizen describes it this way, “BI-PAC has stirred a lot of us and we want to help make this happen.”
BI-PAC presented its map of 7 share the road routes at the Slidell Master Plan Transportation meeting on May 21, 2008, The routes from unincorporated east Slidell & Pearl River cross Interstates-10, 12, and 59, with many traversing Olde Towne before terminating at Slidell’s Heritage Park was presented with considerable interest. (LINK: Routes)
“Advocacy, leadership, and communication between levels of government are BI-PAC goals,” assures deRada. Meeting with government officials, to keep them informed, has been helpful in making progress toward inclusion of walking & biking into the many projects going on presently. Attending bike & pedestrian workshops, grant writing seminars, and riding together will empower BI-PAC to become adept at leading our community forward.
Slidell is in the process of developing its Master Plan. There are other proposed city and parish projects like the Camp Salmen Park; Katrina Fishing Pier; the Pontchartrain Corridor; and Tulane Regional Design Center's Professor Grover Mouton's design guidelines for the Heritage Park Trailhead, Fremaux Corridor, and Olde Towne. It is essential to monitor these enhancements with the purpose of including walking & biking routes.
BI-PAC sponsors monthly rides & walks to advocate citizen rights to share the road responsibly. The rides are taking place to assist motorists and cyclists to become more confident in sharing the road by providing the safety of riding in a group while learning how to use hand signals, how to cross intersections safely and how to design a transportation route to work or school. (LINK: Rides & Walks)
Volunteers are needed to make scheduled calls, send letters/emails, attend meetings. "If 25 people would come forward and committ to make 2 scheduled phone calls, write 2 sceduled emails, 2 scheduled letters and attend 2 scheduled meetings a year, we will be able to form strong alliances to accomplish our goals faster," deRada assures.
To become involved in the BI-PAC Greenway Alliance contact:
Sue deRada at 985-863-7868 or sue@bi-pac.org.
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