The Journey Through Hallowed Ground Corridorfrom Gettysburg to Monticello

The Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area

Corridor Management Plan

October 2008 (Final Draft)

Corridor Management Planfor the

Journey Through Hallowed GroundCorridor

Pennsylvania Route 394US Route 15

US Business Route 15Virginia Route 20Virginia Route 231Virginia Route 22Virginia Route 250Virginia Route 53

Milton Road

Prepared for:

The JTHG Partnership

Prepared by:

Lardner/Klein Landscape Architects, P.C. Corridor Planning and Design

In association withGlatting Jackson Kercher Anglin Transportation PlanningKimley-Horn and Associates, Inc. EngineeringJohn Milner Associates, Inc. Preservation and InterpretationHeritage Tourism Program, National Trust for Historic Preservation Heritage TourismOldham Historic Properties, Inc. Agency Coordination

FINAL DRAFT: October 2008

The JTHG PartnershipCorridor Management Plan Advisory Committee

Kimberly Abe, Senior Planner, Fauquier County Office of Planning

Stuart Andreason, Executive Director, Orange Downtown Alliance

David Benish, Chief of Planning, Albemarle CountyTodd Benson, Land Use Officer, Piedmont Environmental

CouncilDavid Blake, Buckland PreservationDavid Boyce, Executive Director, Oatlands, Inc.Winky Chenault, Enhancement Programs, VDOT- Central OfficeDave Christiansen, Manassas National BattlefieldHap Connors, Spotsylvania County Board of SupervisorsWally Covington, Supervisor- Brentsville, Prince William County

Board of SupervisorsLynn Crump, Environmental Programs Planner, Virginia DCRMike DeHart, Director of Information Technology, Piedmont

Environmental CouncilJohn Egertson, Director of Planning, Culpeper CountyCarol Ferguson, Prince William County Board of Supervisors

OfficeJohn Fieseler, Director of Tourism, Tourism Council of Frederick

County, Inc.George Fitch, Mayor, Town of Warrenton, VAFlorence Ford, Manager, Cumberland TownshipThomas Gilmore, Director of Real Estate, Civil War Preservation

TrustEd Gorski, Land Use Officer, Piedmont Environmental CouncilAndrew Grigsby, Sustainability Consultant, Culpeper, VAKai Hagen, Board of Supervisors, Frederick County, MDEmmett Heltzel, L&D Engineer, VDOT- Central OfficeDan Holmes, Land Use Field Officer, Piedmont Environmental

CouncilMike Kane, Conservation Officer, Piedmont Environmental

CouncilKaren Kilby, L&D Engineer, VDOT- CulpeperCheryl Kilday, President and CEO, Loudoun Convention and

Visitors AssociationJackie Koons-Felion, Scenic Byways Program, Pennsylvania

Dept. of TransportationMark J. Lewis-DeGrace, Transportation Planner, Loudoun

CountyPam Liston, Program Manager, VDOT- Central OfficeTerry Maxwell, Scenic Byway Coordinator, Maryland Highway

AdministrationChristopher Miller, President, Piedmont Environmental CouncilChristopher Mothersead, Director of Planning & Community

Development, Town of WarrentonDavid Nordeen, AIABeth Pastore, Land Conservation Manager, Piedmont

Environmental CouncilEllen Percy Miller, Turn the Mill Around CampaignDick Peterson, Borough Council President, Gettysburg, PALeighton Powell, Executive Director, Scenic Virginia Bill Rolfe, County Administrator, County of OrangeBruce Rommelt, Bull Run Estate Board

Harrison Rue, Executive Director, Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission

Jerry Schiro, Middleburg Town AdministratorRichard Schmoyer, Planning Director, Adams County Office of

Planning & DevelopmentPeter Schwartz, Supervisor, Fauquier County Board of

SupervisorsSid Siddiqui, VDOT- NOVA DistrictGene Swearingen, Town Manager, Haymarket, VAEdward Tucker, Director of Public Works, Town of Warrenton,

VAEsther Turner, Prince William/Manassas Convention and Visitors

BureauDennis VanDerlaske, Prince William County, VALinda Wright, Buckland PreservationJim Zeller, Engineering Manager, VDOT

JTHG Partnership Team:Cate Magennis Wyatt, PresidentBeth Erickson, Vice PresidentShelley Mastran, Project ManagerJaime McClung, Marketing ManagerJennifer Moore, Executive Assistant

The Journey Through Hallowed Ground® is a registered trademark of the Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership.

Table of ContentsCHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 The Journey Through Hallowed Ground 11.2 Purpose of the Plan 11.3 Planning Context and Process 31.4 JTHG National Heritage Area 41.5 Vision and Goals for the Byway 5

CHAPTER 2: THE QUALITIES OF THE BYWAY2.1 Corridor Definition 82.2 Primary Intrinsic Qualities 112.3 Supporting Intrinsic Qualities 31

CHAPTER 3: VISITOR EXPERIENCE3.1 Finding and Following the Byway 413.2 Existing Visitor Attractions and Interpretive Resources 423.3 Existing Roadway Conditions 533.4 Types of Change Likely to Occur to the Roadway and Roadside 57

CHAPTER 4: PRESERVING AND MAINTAINING INTRINSIC QUALITIES 4.1 Conservation and Preservation Strategies 634.2 Managing Roadside Character 82

CHAPTER 5: INTERPRETATION, HERITAGE TOURISM AND VISITOR MANAGEMENT5.1 Heritage Tourism and Visitor Management 875.2 Stakeholder Involvement and the JTHG Professional Team 875.3 Byway Market Research and Market Initiatives to Date 885.4 Interpretation Strategies 985.5 Developing an Interpretive Framework 107

CHAPTER 6: ROADWAY SAFETY, WAYFINDING, AND ENHANCEMENT6.1 Context Sensitive Design/Solutions 1166.2 Design, Maintenance, and Management Guidelines 1516.3 Wayfindng 1646.4 Enhancing the Byway 169

CHAPTER 7: STEWARDSHIP7.1 Advisory Committee 1757.2 Coordinating Roadway Management Practices Along the Byway 1777.3 Priority Projects and Programs 1787.4 Funding Opportunities 179

APPENDICES

APPENDIX 1: MAPS1. Corridor Definition and Scenic Qualities2. Corridor Linkages3. Historic Qualities4. Natural Qualities5. Recreational Qualities6. Corridor Access and Visitor Facilities7. Conservation Priorities8. Visitor Sites and Attractions9. Corridor Character Areas

APPENDIX 2: HIGHWAY SAFETY ANALYSIS (Maps)

APPENDIX 3: HERITAGE TOURISM1. Site listings2. All-American Road Partnership Letter3. Tear-off Map4. Sample itineraries on All-American Road

APPENDIX 4: IMPLEMENTATION TABLE

APPENDIX 5: SUPPORTING LOCAL LAND USE POLICIES AND EXISTING SIGN ORDINANCES

APPENDIX 6: BEST PRACTICES ALONG THE BYWAY

Digital (Adobe PDF) copies of the final draft plan can be downloaded at www.lardnerklein.com /jthg_index.html

The Journey Through Hallowed Ground Corridor Management Plan has been prepared in accordance with Paragraph 9 of Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 96 / Thursday, May 18, 1995 (referred to as the Interim Policy) in order for the routes from Gettysburg, PA, generally following PA Route 394, US Route 15, US Route 15 Business, VA Route 20, VA Route 231, VA Route 22 and connecting routes to Monticello—the spine of the Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area—to be considered for nomination as an All-American Road by the Federal Highway Administration.

According to the policy “A corridor management plan, developed with community involvement, must be prepared for the scenic Byway corridor proposed for national designation. It should provide for the conservation and enhancement of the Byway’s intrinsic qualities as well as the promotion of tourism and economic development. The plan should provide an effective management strategy to balance these concerns while providing for the users’ enjoyment of the Byway. The corridor management plan is very important to the designation process, as it provides an understanding of how a road or highway possesses characteristics vital for designation as a National Scenic Byway or an All-American Road.”

Based on guidance provided by the Federal Highway Administration, this corridor management plan has been organized to address the four core elements that must be addressed as part of the nomination process:• the significance either regionally or nationally of the Intrinsic Quality(s) along your Byway that merit national

designation;• planning to support the preservation, enhancement and promotion of the Intrinsic Quality(s) along your route;• providing a quality visitor experience; and• sustainability in the form of community and organizational support to continue to preserve, enhance and promote your

Byway.

The Corridor Management Plan was developed with extensive citizen input, both through the contributions of the Advisory Committee and numerous public meetings. Altogether, more than 50 meetings with citizens throughout the corridor were held to develop the plan, as discussed further in Chapter 1.

The plan is organized to make it easier to ascertain the core elements and the FHWA interim policy, both noted above.

Chapter 1 – explains how the plan was developed with community involvement including its resulting vision and goals.

Chapter 2 – first defines the corridor and then explains the national significance of the intrinsic qualities of the Byway. The corridor definition includes a description of the route, defines the width of the corridor, incorporates the places to visit along the corridor that are related to its themes, and incorporates the linkages associated with other regional resources that cross the Byway, such as recreational trails, other Byways, and travel corridors. Next, the primary intrinsic qualities are described that qualify the route for designation as an All-American Road. Historic qualities are nationally significant across all three states, while scenic qualities are nationally significant in Pennsylvania and Virginia. Recreational qualities are nationally significant in Maryland. Chapter 2 concludes with a section on other supporting intrinsic qualities that contribute to a high quality visitor experience. Chapter 3 – describes the existing Byway conditions and its readiness for visitors. It describes how a combination of existing Byway and wayfinding signage, coupled with widely distributed tear-off maps and an official guidebook, can help the visitor find and follow the Byway. Chapter 3 lists over 30 nationally significant anchor sites along the Byway that interpret its themes, are safe and accessible, are open 300 or more days, and have full service facilities capable of handling group tours and international visitors. Chapter 3 describes the existing roadway conditions as well as the currently planned and programmed projects that are likely to be constructed along the roadway and the range of existing management and maintenance practices currently used along the roadway itself. Finally, Chapter 3 describes the general nature of growth and development along the Byway and a summary of the policies that are in place now to guide that growth.

PREFACE

Chapter 4 – documents the broad range of existing programs that are available to help preserve and maintain the intrinsic qualities of the Byway including priorities to be used for implementing those conservation and preservation measures. Chapter 4 notes that over 44% of the 1.8 million acres of land that can be seen from the Byway or historic sites and features related to its themes are permanently protected by conservation easements with an additional 9% of that land protected by some kind of temporary measure such as land use taxation program or overlay district. Chapter 4 also identifies measures to manage the potential effects of intrusions to the Byway experience, especially focused on those issues where permanent preservation or conservation measures are unlikely to occur.

Chapter 5 – describes how the visitor experience will be managed over time including a description of how the Byway is currently marketed and promoted, and additional measures that are planned to market the Byway, including to international visitors. Chapter 5 further describes both the existing and planned interpretive strategies for the Byway. Chapter 5 discusses the three primary themes for the Byway: Land of Conflict, Reunification and Rebuilding; Land of Leadership; and Place of National Beauty and Rural Character, and the sites along the Byway that currently interpret those themes. Chapter 5, then further elaborates how the Byway can help to coordinate interpretation among the various sites, attractions, programs and product development. Potential storylines are developed for each of the primary themes as a way to lay the foundation for the development of an interpretive plan, which will be accomplished for the entire National Heritage Area.

Chapter 6 – discusses how the roadway itself will be managed over time to ensure that the Byway will be safe and will meet the wide range of needs for all its users in a manner that will maintain the Byway’s intrinsic qualities and enhance the user’s travel experience. Chapter 6 starts with a discussion of using context sensitive solutions and smart transportation as an approach for addressing both travel safety and travel capacity issues as they arise along the Byway. Illustrative and conceptual examples are included for two areas that exemplify typical transportation challenges along the Byway: one approaching Culpeper, Virginia, along US Route 15 Business and one approaching Orange, Virginia, along US Route 15. Finally, Chapter 6 includes a set of design, maintenance and management guidelines that can be used to help achieve the desired character of the Byway over time.

Chapter 6 also includes many drawings;, renderings, and representative photos to assist the reader in better understanding the proposed concepts. These illustrations are not intended to imply a specific solution, and should not be construed to mean that a particular solution can be applied anywhere in the corridor. Ultimately, the appearance of this corridor, if it is arrived at using appropriate CSS methodology and approaches, will be developed with all pertinent and relevant stakeholder participation being sought, and if provided, given appropriate consideration. The CSS processes and approaches outlined in this Chapter are intended to be inclusive of all stakeholders including each state’s DOT, localities, neighbors, commuters, and that cover the widest range of points of view.

Chapter 7 - discusses how the JTHG Partnership has organized themselves to manage the Byway as the main spine around which a visit to the National Heritage Area will be organized. Chapter 7 describes the continuing roles and responsibilities of the Advisory Committee, subcommittees, and the Byway Manager, and identifies additional professional assistance that will be needed in several areas to monitor the implementation of the plan. Finally, Chapter 7 establishes criteria for determining priorities for implementation and identifies top priorities. A responsibility table is included in Appendix 4, along with potential funding opportunities for each of the main strategies for implementing the plan.

The Corridor Management Plan recognizes that we are in an era of very serious budget and resource constraints. Rather than sit back and wait it out, the plan suggests the formation of a wide range of unique partnerships and collaborations as a way to overcome these constraints. The corridor management plan provides a blueprint for the necessary partnerships to bring more resources to help preserve, maintain and enhance this 175-mile corridor for sustainable heritage tourism development.

As a cross-reference, the table on the following page identifies the fourteen requirements of the corridor management plan and the corresponding pages that address those requirements.

1Also see “Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Feasibility Study”, Chapter 2, pages 15-17; Chapter 3; and Chapter 4, pages 45-48.

Federal Requirement CMP Pages

(1) A map identifying the corridor boundaries and the location of intrinsic qualities and different land uses within the corridor.

Chapter 2; Appendix 1

(2) An assessment of such intrinsic qualities and of their context. Chapter 2; Appendix 11

(3) A strategy for maintaining and enhancing those intrinsic qualities. The level of protection for different parts of a National Scenic Byway or All-American Road can vary, with the highest level of protection afforded those parts which most reflect their intrinsic values. All nationally recognized scenic Byways should, however, be maintained with particularly high standards, not only for travelers’ safety and comfort, but also for preserving the highest levels of visual integrity and attractiveness.

Chapter 4, pp 63-86; Appendix 1

(4) A schedule and a listing of all agency, group, and individual responsibilities in the implementation of the corridor management plan, and a description of enforcement and review mechanisms, including a schedule for the continuing review of how well those responsibilities are being met.

Chapter 7; Appendix 4

(5) A strategy describing how existing development might be enhanced and new development might be accommodated while still preserving the intrinsic qualities of the corridor.

Roadside Character, pp 82-86;Transportation and Land Use, pp125-139;Roadway Design, pp 140-163

(6) A plan to assure on-going public participation in the implementation of corridor management objectives.

Chapter 7

(7) A general review of the road’s or highway’s safety and accident record to identify any correctable faults in highway design, maintenance, or operation.

Chapter 3, pp 53-61; Appendix 2 (maps)

(8) A plan to accommodate commerce while maintaining a safe and efficient level of highway service, including convenient user facilities.

CSS Approach, pp 115-163

(9) A demonstration that intrusions on the visitor experience have been minimized to the extent feasible, and a plan for making improvements to enhance that experience.

Intrusions minimized: Chapter 4Enhancements: pp 169-172

(10) A demonstration of compliance with all existing local, State, and Federal laws on the control of outdoor advertising.

Chapter 4, pp 82-83

(11) A signage plan that demonstrates how the State will insure and make the number and placement of signs more supportive of the visitor experience.

Chapter 6, pp164-168

(12) A narrative describing how the National Scenic Byway will be positioned for marketing.

Chapter 5, pp 87-106

(13) A discussion of design standards relating to any proposed modification of the roadway. This discussion should include an evaluation of how the proposed changes may affect on the intrinsic qualities of the Byway corridor.

Chapter 6, pp143-163

(14) A description of plans to interpret the significant resources of the scenic Byway.

Chapter 5, pp 98-114