A trail running along Salisbury's north-south railroad could become the centerpiece of a vastly expanded walking and bicycling network.

The city is moving forward with plans to construct a path adjacent to the Delmarva Central rail line between Canal Park Drive near the city's boundary with Fruitland northward to Naylor Mill Road on the north side of town.

The City Council approved $150,000 in spending earlier this month to hire Silver Spring-based Toole Design Group for the first phase of designing the path's seven segments.

The city has set aside about $760,000 on biking and walking projects this year, and the vast majority of that sum is for the engineering and construction of the southern half of the railroad trail, Mayor Jake Day said.

He hopes that construction can begin on that portion, which stretches from downtown to near the city's southern border, by late 2018.

“To be able to initiate this process is pretty exciting," Day said.

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He added that several challenges lie ahead, including:

Negotiating an agreement with Delmarva Central, which leases the tracks from Norfolk Southern, to allow the trail to be paved along portions of its property. A Norfolk Southern spokesman said the company's main concern is making sure such trails aren't placed too close to rail lines, posing a potential safety risk.

Acquiring right of way from private property owners in the trail's path.

Removing anything lying in the trail's way, such as fences and trees.

The trail was envisioned in both the city's downtown master plan and last year's Bicycle Network Plan. But when it came time for city staff to set a course for infrastructure spending earlier this year, Day said he was surprised to see they omitted the railroad trail.

When he reminded them that the project was called for in no fewer than two sets of plans, “everyone shrugged and said, 'We’ve had these adopted plans for years. We never put them in the capital improvement plan,' " he recalled.

His response: Those plans don't come cheap. Why not follow their recommendations?

The railroad trail would help further connect Salisbury University students with downtown and provide an additional link to shops and offices along the Route 13 corridor, Day said.

The railroad tracks historically have been a magnet for crime and vagrants. The trail could help reverse that blight, he said.

“It is a back-of-house space that people think is forgotten about. It’s usually people not willing to be seen up and down 13. Sometimes that means drugs. Sometimes that means homeless that don’t want to avail themselves of services," he said.

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Matt Drew helped craft the bicycle plan as a member of the city's Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee. He called the trail a "very significant project," saying many SU students are hesitant to travel downtown by bike because they currently have to share the road with cars.

With the railroad trail, he added, “not only do you connect 9,000 students to a burgeoning downtown area but it also introduces them to the City Park."

The city likely would partner with the university on the portion of the trail that traverses the so-called "East Campus" east of Route 13, Day said.

SU strongly supports the project, said Eric Berkheimer, associate vice president of facilities and capital management. The trail is included in its facilities master plan.

"Such a trail would be attractive," he said. "More importantly, however, it would be a safer conduit for students who live in housing developments adjacent East Campus walking or biking to classes each day, away from Route 13."

He said the trail is still "in the discussion stage" and no construction timeline or design specifics have been determined.

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On Twitter @Jeremy_Cox