At their meeting on Monday, Spartanburg City Council got an overview of a plan to add 10 miles of connected trails to the city from Partners for Active Living Executive Director, Laura Ringo and Trails Coordinator, Ned Barrett.
The organization recommended focusing on four key projects to help connect existing trails in the community which include extending the Mary Black Foundation Rail Trail to Barnet Park, connecting the Cottonwood Trail to the Mary Black Foundation Rail Trail, connecting the River Birch Trail near Spartanburg High School to East Main Street, and adding a trail from Wofford Street to the westside.
The projects recommended are part of a trails plan for metro Spartanburg developed through a partnership between the City, Partners for Active Living, and Spartanburg County. Partners for Active Living, on behalf of the City, has been assessing implementation strategies, funding sources, and potential project scheduling for trails projects, and last fall City Council allocated $750,000 to be spent over five years for trail development. Of that amount, $675,000 has not yet been allocated to specific trail projects.
In other business, Council voted 7-0 to replace a bridge on Cart Drive, between Hillbrook and Blackwood drives. Dillard Excavating was the responsive low bidder for the project at $645,315. The bridge replacement is expected to take around 90 days, and a section of the road will need to be closed and the neighborhood traffic rerouted during construction.
Neighborhood residents will receive advance notice about the road closure through door hangers and mailers. Funding for the project comes in the form of $430,315 from the City’s Storm Water Utility Fund, $ 189,265 from the Spartanburg County Transportation Fund, and $25,735 from State Representative Durham Cole’s C Fund Set-aside.
For more on Monday’s meeting, see the full video below.