Cenzo from Hatfield PA on 5/8/2019 10:13:52 AM:
Please Consider sending this letter edited appropriately.
NOTE: Please address and send all Letters to Kevin D. Brandt, Superintendent, Chesapeake and Ohio Canal NHP at the following address or emailed to ben_helwig@nps.gov All letters must be received in the mail or electronically by COB May 13, 2019.
Kevin D. Brandt, Superintendent
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park
1850 Dual Highway, Suite 100
Hagerstown, MD 21740
Dear Superintendent Brandt:
__________(Municipality/Individual/Organization) is/am is writing to express support of the C&O Canal National Historical Park’s “Phase III, Towpath Rehabilitation: A Safe Towpath” project being submitted for consideration for a grant through the Maryland Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) in 2019. Please include this letter in the application package, whereby we also request favorable consideration of this project by the team assessing TAP proposals.
We truly believe that repairs to the towpath will bring tangible benefits to our communities, as well as a safer and improved experience for park visitors.
Local businesses are already reaping the economic benefit of the increase in park attendance since the completion of the Great Allegheny Passage Trail to Pittsburgh. Attendance topped 5 million for the first time in 2014, and in 2017, park visitors spent an estimated $89.5 million in local gateway regions around the C&O Canal National Historical Park (C&O Canal NHP).
This year’s project is phase three of a five-phase program to address the worst portions of the canal towpath and create a world-class riding and hiking surface for our visitors. TAP funding will continue to match the $5 million the C&O Canal NHP has requested for this program over five years.
We believe the State of Maryland would benefit considerably from the many Marylanders and the out of state hikers/bikers that enjoy the C&O Canal National Historical Park.
__________(Municipality/Individual/Organization) fully supports the TAP application being made by the park, and urges favorable consideration by the TAP assessment team for the proposed Towpath Rehabilitation project.