Residents were able to view and provide feedback on potential neighborhood trail connections to the Prisma Health Swamp Rabbit Trail’s Green Line extension at a city of Greenville public meeting on March 28.
The three proposed trail spurs would connect the trail to the Nicholtown, Gower and Verdae neighborhoods by crossing Laurens Road. The city is currently working with AECOM consultants to conceptualize and construct the new trail connections.
The city’s goal is to use existing neighborhood bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure and transition it into a designated shared-use pathway to connect with the Green Line. Since each connection requires crossing Laurens Road, these spurs are planned to take place at updated, signalized intersections.
“There are different iterations of the different connections and those are representative of doing sidewalks and looking at topography, private land ownership, available right of way, utility impacts and all that good stuff,” said Calin Owens, the city’s senior mobility coordinator. “So there has been some thought given to what we’re calling our preferred route at this point, but it’s still up for discussion.”
The connector options and preferred neighborhood routes include:
- Nicholtown community has five proposed trail spurs — four utilizing the signalized crossing at Ackley Road — with the preferred route on Lennox Avenue. An alternative crossing at Glenn Street could provide the spur route through the Holland Park development pending the South Carolina Department of Transportation’s approval of a new signal.
- Gower community has five potential trail connections with the preferred route on Industrial Drive.
- The preferred route and only proposed option for the Verdae/Gower communities is on Verdae Commons Drive.
People who attended the public meeting were able to view each community’s connection-route options and ask representatives from AECOM questions about the project.
The meeting also gave community members such as Gertie Mullis an opportunity to share their concerns about the proposed trail routes. Mullis said two options for the proposed route connection to Nicholtown would run through the property she owns on Lane Avenue.
“I wanted to see exactly what they’re planning to do that’s going to affect my property,” Mullis said.
Verdae resident James Thomas said he is excited about the new Green Line extension because he would be able to use it to commute to work by bike. He is concerned, however, about the safety of the trail connections going through Laurens Road.
“Even though Laurens (Road) has a 35-mile-an-hour speed limit, people drive like 60. It’s got big wide lanes like it’s designed like an interstate,” Thomas said. “I’d rather see something that actually stops the traffic, but it’s a step in the right direction for sure to have all the spurs connect to the neighborhoods.”
An online survey is also being conducted by the city and AECOM until April 15 to get public feedback on the project.
Video: Swamp Rabbit Trail’s new pedestrian bridges are in place
“Whether people live in the neighborhood or travel through the area, their input’s really important for us to understand what their concerns are, what their local knowledge is, how they would use (the trail connections) and give them a chance to see what the city’s looking at,” said Justin Wood, project manager at AECOM.
When looking at the timeline for this project, Owens said the public meeting was only the beginning of the public-input process.
“From here we will take what we hear, adapt what we’ve already done, and start to develop actual engineering drawings that will hopefully get us something that we can be under construction by the end of the year,” Owens said.
For more information on the project and online survey, visit https://www.greenvillesc.gov/2119/Laurens-Road-Trail-Spurs.
Laurens Road trail spur options
