One of the greatest deceptions of the time is the “rails to trails” movement, designed by government servants of trucking and highway special interests. What better way to permanently cripple ground transportation?

In Newark, Ohio there is a bit of news that might be somewhat encouraging. The Advocate has a complete report.

The line’s owner, the state, has even grander plans; it wants to put high-speed passenger trains on the line, carrying people 110 miles an hour from Columbus to Pittsburgh, stopping in Newark.

For his part, Ohio Central President Bill Strawn said the railroad has no plans for the bike trail; indeed, he believes the company couldn’t touch it if it wanted to. And the Ohio Rail Development Commission doesn’t see an issue with the trail, either, unless it looks at passenger rail; that kind of speed 10 feet from a pedestrian might not be safe, it says.

If the Federal Highway Administration had its way, the trail and the track would be 28 feet apart. That ruling, though, came after the trail was built, and it’s more of a guideline than a rule, anyway.

That leaves the stretch of pavement on the north side of the fence looking lonely indeed.

For now, the lease that gives the Ohio Central control over the rail line doesn’t affect the bike trail one bit — Licking County has control over that in a separate lease. But there’s a clause in it that leaves some cause for concern.

“What the lease says, in a nutshell, is that if at any given time in the future that the line that the bike trail is on is needed for rail purposes, that the bike trail would cease to exist,” said Russ Edgington, director and secretary of the Licking Park District.

The rail line known as the Panhandle stretches some 161 miles, connecting Columbus to Mingo Junction, just south of Steubenville on the Ohio border. It passes through Newark, Frazeysburg and Coshocton along the way, and includes a spur south to Hebron