In terms of activities, the greater Ellicottville area has a little something for everyone. Enjoy hiking up in the hills? Check. Hanging out poolside or taking a nice refreshing swim in a lake? Check and double check. Playing ball in the park? There is plenty of opportunity for that. And of course, come winter, there is an endless amount of skiing, snowboarding, cross-country skiing and tubing to be done.
But what if you’re just in the mood to take a nice leisurely walk? Well, there are always the sidewalks. In some select areas anyway. On the evening of June 11 a group of motivated citizens held an informational meeting at the Ellicottville Cornell Cooperative Extension building about a proposal that would give area residents an alternative when it comes to peaceful, casual strolls.
If you’ve been following the updates on this project in Ellicottville’s weekly community newspaper, Ellicottville Times, you probably know by now that a committee has been formed and is proposing a multiuse trail be added to portions of Ellicottville and Great Valley. For the past year the project has been gaining momentum and attracting more and more supporters who like the idea of adding a trail to the area.
Committee co-chairs Jennie Acklin and Ken Hinman began to visualize the idea last year during the Centurion Cycling race that Ellicottville hosted. After seeing such an impressive gathering of passionate outdoor enthusiasts, the two began to think how nice it would be to have safer and more accessible areas for casual bikers and hikers.
“So many other resort villages have trail systems – Ellicottville has the right kind of residents and tourists to make this a huge community asset,” said Acklin. “Regional trails not only connect points of interest in the area, but provide a safe, traffic-free way for people of all ages to commute to work, school and shop at local businesses, all while improving their health. We’re excited that the Ellicottville-Great Valley area will be able to offer our residents and visitors an easy access to exercise and personal enjoyment of the outdoors.”
Rick Manning, a landscape architect out of Ithaca, NY who is working with the committee, says that Ellicottville is a great location for this type of project. “The enthusiasm here is great and it’s a beautiful village,” he said. Manning is no stranger to the area, as he also helped design the Allegheny River Valley Trail in Olean, NY over a decade ago.
The opportunities for trail expansion spans many miles and will link many regional locations, but according to Hinman the initial focus will be a trail within the Village itself. The proposed starting point is the Ellicottville Community Park, where the path would travel out past the Cooperative Extension Building and towards the future Tim Horton’s site at the corner of Route 219.
After that initial phase, the possibilities are considerable. Eventually the committee would like to see the trail branch out along Route 242 to HoliMont and also continue along Route 219 to Holiday Valley. There has even been discussion of taking the trail past Holiday Valley and connecting it with Ellicottville Central School. Other proposed improvements would be larger pedestrian sidewalks and on-road biking lanes. But that is all in the future. For now, the committee is just happy to see more people showing support for a project that would help to further promote healthy lifestyles and encourage non-motorized forms of transportation and activities.
Support has been coming in many different formats. From individual $5 gifts to large corporate donations, the contributions have added up to over $20,000 to date. Check out the trail’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/evltrail to get a rundown of the history of the proposal as well as donation information.
For additional progress on this exciting project, check out the weekly edition of the Ellicottville Times or if you have specific questions or want to get involved, call Jennie Acklin at 716-699-4062.
