Beaver Ruin Multi-Use Trail Approved, But It Won't Come Until 2016

The Gwinnett Village CID approved to move forward with a multi-use trail on Beaver Ruin Road during its April board meeting Thursday.

The new pathway would cater to pedestrians and bicyclists from Buford Highway to Indian Trail Road in the city of Norcross, and would look similar to the multi-use trail on Peachtree Parkway in Peachtree Corners.

"It [will be] a really big, big sidewalk where people can get around," said John McHenry, program director for the community improvement district. "For us, it's great, because people commute and walk there, but then we can also encourage the recreation."

Biking to Summerour Middle nearby was actually one of the main focuses of the trail. The project was part of the Safe Routes to School plan, which was led by a local citizen group that aims to get students commuting to school by foot or bike.

When Gwinnett Village discovered that federal funding was available and they could request to use it for the multi-use trail, the CID jumped on it.

"We said, 'Hey, this is a great project for that,'" said CID Project Manager Alyssa Sinclair. "They liked that it had the school connection and business support, and Norcross and the CID all working together."

At the end of last year, Gwinnett Village was awarded a majority ($976,000) of the project through federal funds, as long as Gwinnett Village and the city of Norcross were able to match $122,000. Norcross actually ended up contributing an extra $40,000 because of funds from another project that the city ended up not pursuing.

The only downfall for the trail project so far is that construction wouldn't start soon because it's federally funded.

"The whole federal process following the requirements would take probably another three to four years," said Sinclair. Later in the meeting it was said that the project could even take up to five years.

The federal requirements include engineering, environmental work, the right of way and then construction, Sinclair said. The CID already has the ball rolling by releasing a request for qualification for engineering consultants so that the board can choose one in June, but even the engineering part is expected to last for an entire year.

"We will push as fast as we can," said CID Executive Director Chuck Warbington.

If the project were funded more locally, normally a trail of this size would take only six months to a year to finish, he added.

Warbington also dubbed the new Beaver Ruin project as Phase One of a larger trail that the CID is working on: the Lilburn to Norcross multi-use trail, which aims to connect the two cities on Indian Trail.

At the Thursday meeting, the board members approved a sub-grant agreement with the Atlanta Regional Commission to fund the feasibility study for the extensive trail. ARC would be giving $30,000 and the CID has been asked to match $7,500.

See also:

• Summerour Celebrates Walk to School Day
• Gwinnett Village CID Outlines Top Projects in Bike/Ped Study
• Summerour Celebrates Bike to School Day

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