Alternative Transportation Study

The National Park Service (NPS) Harpers Ferry National Historical Park is conducting an alternative transportation study.

During the past two decades the park's acreage has increased by 60%.The park currently encompasses 3646 acres. The park transit system has not grown with the park, no additional means of public transportation has been provided. The 2010 General Management Plan identified the need to provide enhanced visitor access to Camp Hill, Bolivar Heights and newly acquired lands of Schoolhouse Ridge and Murphy Farm. This alternative transportation study will investigate the most efficient ways of providing transportation to these resources.

Three goals of the study are:1-Improve visitor experience. 2-Reduce the number of vehicles on roads serving the park. 3-Provide sustainable (cost effective) access to park resources

To achieve these goals various alternatives are under consideration. These include a mix of transportation modes, routes and network designs. Four modes are under consideration: shuttles, bikes, trails and personal vehicles. It is believed that all four modes will play some part in improving accessibility to park resources. However, more emphasis will be given to shuttles, bikes and trails since they are more environmental friendly modes than personal vehicles. This study will consider buses as the main mode of transportation with bike and trail as secondary modes. The study will identify existing hiking and bike routes near Harpers Ferry and propose connections that lead to the park.

A public workshop will be held October 18, 2011 from 6:30 to 9:00 PM at the Stephen T. Mather Training Center, 51 Mather Place, Harpers Ferry, WV 25425. This workshop will concentrate on gathering new ideas for the expansion of the Park transportation system. Comments entered on PEPC will be taken through November 1, 2011 and applied to the study. Comments will still be accepted after the November 1 date.

Document Content:

1 Alternate Transportation Newsletter   (539.5 KB, PDF file) 2 Park Locations & Resources to be Serviced   (166.5 KB, PDF file) 3 Bus Combination Routes & Trunaround Alternatives   (1.6 MB, PDF file) Hub & Spoke Alternative Routes   (423.8 KB, PDF file) Loop Route Alternatives   (970.6 KB, PDF file) Trail & Bike Route Alternatives   (656.0 KB, PDF file) Disclaimer: Links within the above document(s) were valid as of the date published. Note: Some of the files may be in PDF format and can be viewed using the Adobe Acrobat Reader software. You may download a free copy of from Adobe Systems.