Elected officials and community members celebrate the groundbreaking for the new trail. (Henry County photo)
Henry County leaders and community members gathered in January at Panola Mountain State Park to break ground on the county’s new greenway trail. Once complete in two phases, the trail will connect the state park with Fairview Public Library.
The ceremony opened with Commissioner Bruce Holmes greeting guests and thanking them for their presence and support. He further shared with the crowd that it took eight years to get to this phase of the project underway and explained that there was a time he didn’t think the project would come to fruition.
Holmes said that with the help and partnership from staff, the Georgia Department of Transportation and the PATH Foundation, the project was made possible.
“We hope that one day in the future we’ll be able to bike, ride or even jog to the city of Atlanta,” said Holmes. “We’re hoping that’s going to be a possibility, and with hard work, dedication and with the people that we have around us and the leadership, I believe that it will happen.”
Phase I will terminate on Henry County Schools property near Austin Road Middle School. Commissioners awarded the construction bid in October to Lewallen Construction of Marietta, GA for $2,724,673.91.
The new trail is 1.6 miles in length, will be twelve feet wide, and features three bridges including a dedicated pedestrian path over state route 155. Henry County is receiving $2,179,739 in federal transportation funds for the project with a required local match worth $544,935.
A second phase is planned to construct an additional 0.9 miles of trail from Austin Road Middle School to a public access trailhead at the Fairview Library. Federal Transportation Alternatives funding, in the amount of $1,465,000, is budgeted in FY 2021 for construction.
Portions of this article were shared from Henry County Communications. Join their newsletter list!
