Volunteers begin work on first phase of Clarkesville Greenway

By Kimberly Brown, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Friday, April 27, 2007 9:37 AM EDT

Volunteer Jimmy Turner of Clarkesville uses his chainsaw on a black walnut tree at the beginning of the Clarkesville Greenway trail. Volunteer crews have begun clearing land and marking the trail at the end of East Water Street. Staff/Kimberly Brown

The Clarkesville Greenway is a step closer to being ready for hikers to enjoy its first phase. But when that first phase is complete will depend on whether Clarkesville Greenways Inc. receives a recreational trails grant it has applied for.

According to Richard Averack, president of Clarkesville Greenways Inc., volunteer crews from Grace Calvary Episcopal Church and from his organization have begun cleaning up and marking the beginning of the trail at the end of East Water Street in Clarkesville, across from Old Clarkesville Mill.

This first leg of the trail will be a basic gravel path running through the woods beside Old Clarkesville Mill down to the Soque River, Averack says.

The trail will include a footbridge donated by Unicoi State Park. Averack says the bridge was abandoned by Unicoi when the trail it was on became flooded.

"[The bridge] had been undermined during a storm and rather than redoing the abutments, [park officials] decided to change the trail," he says.

Volunteers will disassemble the bridge, bring it to Clarkesville and reassemble it onsite.

Currently, all efforts on the greenway are being done by volunteer labor and mostly donated materials. Clarkesville Greenways Inc. has received $1,000 from the Conservation Fund and the Kodak American Greenways Awards Program, Clarkesville Planning and Development Director Steve Hashimoto says.

Greenway advocates are hopeful that the organization will receive another grant it has applied for: a Recreational Trails Program Grant that could be as much as $100,000. The minimum amount that will be awarded is $25,000, Hashimoto says.

The grant is distributed through the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Parks, Recreation and Historic Sites Division.

"We're very hopeful that we'll receive notification of the grant in the near future," Hashimoto says.

If the grant is received, he says, "It will permit the opportunity to develop the first phase of greenway, beginning at the end of East Water Street and going all the way to the river to Old Clarkesville Mill."

Part of the plan is to create a pedestrian crossing on Historic Highway 441 in front of Old Clarkesville Mill, so that trail users can cross more safely. The crosswalk will be constructed in accordance with Georgia Department of Transportation standards, Averack says. A traffic light is not allowed by the DOT in that location, nor is an overhead pedestrian bridge. At some point in the future, Clarkesville Greenways may investigate a tunnel going under the road, Averack says.

So when can hikers begin lacing up their hiking boots?

Averack says that they should hear whether or not they've received the grant by the end of April.

"If the grant happens, we expect construction to begin immediately," he says. "A little preliminary engineering will have to take place first. After that it should go fairly fast."