Though not on the agenda for Monday’s Bridgeport City Council meeting, the expansion of the city trail system spurred a lengthy conversation. Recently, the city was awarded a T21 grant in the amount of $160,000 for use toward lengthening city trails. Ultimately, the goal is to connect trails located in town to the one at Hinkle and Deegan Lakes.

 

Monday evening, Mayor Bob Greer said discussion at a recent strategic planning session brought up a question as to whether the project would be pursued. The reason for that indecision is a major obstacle in connecting the trail systems – the Main Street/U.S. Route 50 intersection.

 

“That makes it difficult – if not impossible in some people’s minds,” he said.

 

Greer said if the city chooses to not go forward with the trail system project, the grant would have to be returned. In addition to that $160,000, the city had contributed $40,000 as was required by the grant match requirement.

 

Community Development Director Randy Spellman took the podium to shed some light on the grant status and some of the initial planning which has taken place with regard to the project. 

 

It was about a year and a half ago, Spellman said, when Parks and Recreation Director Don Burton and Deputy Director Joe Shuttleworth applied for the T21 grant- a state grant which encompasses two areas of community development: Trails and sidewalk programs. Thus far, Bridgeport  has received five rounds of such funding for the city’s Main Street revitalization program and two rounds of funding for city trail projects.

 

“We’ve done very well in Charleston during the past 10 or 12 years with grants,” Spellman said.

 

The city was notified in March of the most recent grant and E.L. Robinson had subsequently been selected for engineering services. Since then, concern has been expressed on how to tie the lake trail system back into Main Street.

 

“We can bring it out to the post office and then there’s no real way to get across Main Street,” Spellman said.

 

Meetings have been held with West Virginia Division of Highways traffic engineers concerning the expansion from the lakes up to Foley Street at which point the trail would cross South Virginia Avenue with adequate signage on both sides of the street. That intersection – which is between Jefferson and Newton streets – was chosen so as not to implement the crossing near the sharp turn on South Virginia Avenue, Spellman said. 

 

From there, the trail would connect with existing sidewalks on Virginia Avenue - which from Newton Street on were recently restored. The walks would lead to the Main Street intersection.

Spellman pointed out that whether the expansion program materializes or not, the route is presently being utilized by runners and bicyclists who travel back and forth between the Main Street corridor and the trail at the lakes. He also pointed out that the grant money, if kept, must be used for expansion of this particular trail system. It is not required, however, to bring the trail system clear to the Main Street intersection. It just must cross South Virginia Avenue, he said. 

 

“Terminating it at Foley Street would be ok,” he said.

 

Discussion was held among Council members as to whether the trail could be brought from the lakes without crossing Main Street. A catwalk would be quite costly and difficult to obtain funding for, Spellman said.  Another possibility was moving the crossing point from the four-way at Virginia Avenue to nearer for the former Hardees and Ace Hardware buildings.

 

As the discussion wound down, all council members were in agreement that the project should be pursued.

 

“It would be my suggestion to get the trail system to Foley Street now and at a later time, figure out a good way to tie it into Main Street and do that project in-house,” he said. “We’d have ourselves a nice trail system then.” 

 

Editor's Note: Pictured from top are Spellman and Greer. Read more about the Nov. 24 Bridgeport City Council meeting HERE.