HAMMOND — The resident-led Manchac Greenway effort is lobbying the St. John the Baptist Parish Council and Tangipahoa Parish Council to adopt ordinances in support of their effort.

The creation of the Manchac Greenway along the former U.S. 51 through the swamps and marshes between LaPlace and Ponchatoula is a resident-led effort with the assistance of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, area governments, faculty members and students from Southeastern Louisiana University and businesses.

Co-organizer Ben Taylor said he hopes the parish governments form a joint task force with Greenway volunteers, which would lead to clear “action items.”

“An important aspect in all this is that local government is accepting the Greenway project and this will attract the cooperation of other important organizations such as the Regional Planning Commission, state officials and agencies so this thing gathers more momentum,” Taylor said.

Friends of the Manchac Greenway hosted a recent meeting at Southeastern Louisiana University’s Turtle Cove Research Station office on the Greenway in Galva with representatives of Tangipahoa and St. John the Baptist Parish governments.

Government leaders were given an appraisal of the overall status of the project and discussed proposed ordinances to be adopted by each parish.

By making this commitment, Greenway supporters said both Parish Councils would join the Friends, St. John Parish President Natalie Robottom and Tangipahoa Parish President Robbie Miller in taking an important step in setting up the Greenway as an important recreational, cultural and economic asset, joining the Florida, River Parishes and entire region surrounding the southeastern Louisiana lakes.

Those in attendance last month included Tangipahoa Parish Councilmen Harry Lavine and Bobby Cortez, who represent districts in which the Greenway is located; Tangipahoa Chief of Administration Joe Thomas, Parish Director of Development and Planning Alyson Lapuma, St. John the Baptist Parish Councilman Michael Wright and St. John Economic Development Coordinator Terri Abadie.

Friends of the Manchac Greenway organizers said they look forward to creating a master plan for the Greenway through collaboration with the Greater New Orleans Regional Planning Commission, the development of funding sources and engagement with groups involved in biking, hiking, running, fishing, birding/wildlife viewing, boating, canoeing, kayaking and the general public.

Volunteers said SLU Associate Professor Amber Narro and her students in the Communications Department have assisted the effort by creating manchacgreenway.org and promising to keep the effort active on social media.

The project gained steam earlier this year when local leaders celebrated the installation of signs in January marking the old stretch of U.S. 51 as an official bike path.

Dan Jatres, the pedestrian and bicycle program manager for the Regional Planning Commission, said in January there are many bike enthusiasts who would love a ride all the way around Lake Pontchartrain.

It would also be a boon to tourism, he said.

“For most people, a ride around the lake would take two days,” Jatres said. “That means stops in some of the little towns, dining in local restaurants, a stay in a hotel or a bed and breakfast.”

The path also could attract larger groups, such as cycling races and even Ironman competitions. Local bikers are hoping to see the 26-mile road between LaPlace and Pontchatoula become a continuous bike path.