A continuous cross-continental active transportation trail would pay for itself in less than five years in visitor spending alone, a new analysis argues — and it could have a big impact on the car-free transportation landscape in the communities it runs through, too.

According to a new report from the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, completion of the Great American Rail-Trail — a 3,700-mile shared-use path stretching from the Capitol steps in Washington, D.C. to the coast of Washington State — would generate more than $350 million per year in economic activity in the form of tax revenue, income for workers, and tourism dollars for local communities.

That’s less than a third of the $1-billion the group estimates it’d take to fill the gaps in the existing trail, which is 53 percent complete today.