News

Walkers, joggers and pedalers flock to greenway extension

Plenty of people are already enjoying the newest leg of the Oklawaha Greenway.

By Bill Moss, Published: May 24, 2016

Walkers, joggers and bicycle riders flocked to the newly opened Oklawaha Greenway extension to Berkeley Mills Park this week, celebrating a meandering paved surface that runs along Mud Creek.

Ten feet wide, the new 1.7-mile leg forks off the existing Oklawaha Greenway south of North Main Street and ends at a new trailhead parking lot across from the historic Berkeley Mills baseball stadium.
“I think it’s fabulous,” said Joe Sanders, an avid rider and a member of the city’s Bicycle Plan Steering Committee. “One of the things that people have been asking for is to extend that. This will not quite double the distance but this will bring more people out that do want to ride.
“It’s that 60 percent we’ve been talking about (that are interested in riding but anxious about safety). They can start at Berkeley and ride to Jackson Park and back. That’s 7½ miles. For new people starting out that’s great. One of the things suggested in the bike plan was a bike lane down Seventh Avenue to connect the businesses with the greenway. Again, it’s that connectivity.”
Still to come are benches and picnic tables, mile markers and other signage, including a display describing a streambank restoration project along Mud Creek. The greenway runs along an easement the city secured when it ran a sewer line from Jackson Park to the wastewater treatment plant at Berkeley.
“We’re working on a trail map that’s going to have that information on it,” Public Works Director Tom Wooten said of the mile markers. “We’re going to put some of those at Travel and Tourism — all over, wherever we can put them.”
The trail maps also be available at a kiosk at the fork where the extension splits from the existing greenway, said City Engineer Brent Detwiler.
Designed by engineer Brendan Shanahan, the greenway was funded by a $1.2 million NCDOT grant.
“We’ve been getting a lot of compliments about the way it meanders instead of going in a straight line,” said Detwiler, referring to a section with S-curves and a slope around the plant.
The paving contractor was Trace and Co. Luther Smith and Associates designed the landscaping plan that called for 500 trees.
“Most of the alignment was kind of wide open and it was kind of to provide some shade and also for screening along the Kimberly-Clark property,” Detwiler said.
Trace will also paint a yellow centerline and install benches, picnic tables and drinking fountains.
“We’ll have some information and signage,” Detwiler said. “We’re going to have several of these planted areas with meadows and wildflowers. We’ve been working with the Bee City folks on that.”
The Blue Ridge Bicycle Club donated the equipment for a bicycle pump and repair station. An Eagle Scout candidate is working with the bike club to install it, Sanders said. The city expects to hold a ribbon-cutting in June or July.