A bike trail planned for Columbia County might soon get a little longer.
County officials will likely obtain a nearly 1,400-foot easement along the Euchee Creek basin between the Canterbury Farms subdivision on Chamblin Road to Grovetown.
The easement follows the creek beneath an Interstate 20 bridge and connects to some existing trails in Grovetown, said Preston Duffie, a landscape architect and community forester for Columbia County.
County commissioners will vote on the easement at an Oct. 7 meeting.
A 1,200-foot portion of the bike trail was constructed this year in Canterbury Farms by the neighborhood's developers. Currently, officials are negotiating with the developer of the Indian Springs subdivision to connect the Canterbury Farms trail to the easement, Mr. Duffie said.
"They're certainly willing to work with us," he said of the negotiations.
Eventually, county officials would like to construct a bike path from Grovetown, around Patriots Park to Riverside Park on Hardy McManus Road.
About $600,000 is earmarked for bike trails in a county passive recreation fund. Should voters approve a new 1-cent sales tax in November, another $600,000 might be used to build the trails.
But the earliest officials will start collecting funds from the sales tax for bike trail construction is 2011.
Mr. Duffie said county officials intend to apply for a $100,000 grant from the state Department of Natural Resources in November for the trails.
"We can't rely on the (sales tax) if we want to get started," he said. "A lot is going to depend on grants."
Grovetown officials recently completed a design to extend the city's bike trails onto 30 acres of donated property between Harlem-Grovetown Road and Liberty Park using a $500,000 TEA Grant, City Manager Shirley Beasley said.
On the other end of Columbia County, commissioners also likely will approve during an Oct. 7 meeting leasing property from Martin Marietta Materials Inc. near Savannah Rapids Pavilion.
The terms of the lease are $1 per half-acre of property for 50 years and will allow the county to extend a bike trail on Evans to Locks Road through Savannah Rapids to a pedestrian bridge over the Augusta Canal, Community and Leisure Services Director Barry Smith said.
Mr. Duffie said he is unsure where or when construction to extend the trails might start.
"A lot of it will depend on how successful we are in continuing to secure easements," he said. "What we would like to do is construct the first phase around Patriots Park. We may alter that and move it toward Grovetown, depending on what easements we secure."
Reach Donnie Fetter at (706) 868-1222, ext. 115, or donnie.fetter@augustachronicle.com.
Comments
Is there any good reason why our county does not have a system of bikepaths and sidewalks to traverse our neighborhoods, to connect our neighborhoods and our communities with one another, and to link these sidewalks and bikepaths with similar projects in contiguous counties?
It would be nice to see some paths to get around. I like the model used by Peach Tree City, you can get just about any where you want to go on a golf cart, bike or walking. One heck of an advantage during gas shortages like this. Not to mention a very peaceful way to commute.
I don't think I'd care to have some of my "neighbors" from the next door subdivision coming through. Already a road has been connected several blocks over, and now nothing but traffic. A shortcut to get around all the speed bumps placed in the 'hood behind us.
Funny how bike paths seem to have more priority than sidewalks for our kids to safely walk to and from school. I no longer have children in the CC system, but every time I drive Hereford Farm or Gibbs Roads on my way to Evans I see children walking in tall grass on the side of the road or directly on the road in order to avoid the tall grass. CC needs to get their priorities straight and take care of infrastructure first!
Amen gnx, I live on Hereford Farm and Gibbs road and I like to walk with my kids up to Brusters and all around. When I called CC to ask about getting the tall grass cut so we could see where we were walking and what we were stepping on. They told that they contracted to have the grass cut only three times a year. I don't have any problems with bike trails, but infrastructure should be first and everybody who feels the same should VOTE NO for the 1 cent sales tax in November!! I know I will!!
what we need are golf cart trails to schools and shopping to save money on gas and cut down on emissions from vehicles.
disenfranchized - don't forget to also vote NO for the natatorium / public pool / tennis complex or whatever they're calling it now. If they want an additional 18 million in property taxes they should spend it on things we need instead of things we want. It's a fine thing for our county to grow and prosper, but needs should always be considered before wants. We don't need a public pool right now.
gnx- I had already intended on voting NO! It would seem to me that the req complex would benefit more non property owners than property owners, so if the county wants to build it let them figure out a way for everyone to finance it instead of just the property owners. Necessities first (ie. sidewalks, crosswalks, amtrac service
safety equipment for all public safety persons ....)
Another way of wasting money in Good Ole Columbia County
gnx, disenfranchised, and dale88fan, A group of homeowners living along Hereford Farm Road (HFR) met in July with Scott Herring and Ron Hutto of CC Construction and Maintenance Division to discuss just how the road widening project for HFR should proceed and most expressed a desire to see sidewalks, bikepaths, or (what I prefer) a multi-use trail as part of that project. I like the multi-use trail because then you don't have to decide betweeen sidewalks and bike paths - you essentially get both in one package. All of these things were also discussed at the SPLOST hearings that were held in June and July (which relatively few people attended). But if you still want to chime in on the issue, we were told that notices would be posted on HFR prior to the commencement of the widening project to solicit further input from citizens. Just watch for the notices and come to the meetings. As for the swimming/tennis complex, that is on a separate bond. Remeber, SPLOST garners money from out-of-towners who shop in CC so that the county doesn't have to look to just property taxes for revenue.
More paved bike paths. Nice. It would be even nicer to have some of the unimproved roads paved and some water lines ran without having all of the property bought up by developers.
sleepless, I agree that they need to take care of the water lines and paving of unimproved roads (I voted that higher than projects like a visitor center at the SPLOST meetings). What a lot of us want on HFR is to make sure that they only widen it to two lanes with a center turn lane - plus the trail - instead of going for four lanes. Please don't think that we're just being greedy when we ask for the path. We have three schools along here and kids are currently walking in the ditch and along the side of the road. That's just not safe. I think our idea would cost a lot less than going to four lanes, and, as I understand it, that blacktop trail costs less than a sidewalk and curb. That would leave more money for water lines and paving unimproved roads while still protecting the kids.
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