Rails to Trails

[Horatio Nelson]

Don't know if this has been posted yet, but this section of the trail in falls parks back open. The trail connection to County Square looks nice.

[bikeoid]

Finally, some movement on paving -

Quote

 

This is how YOUR trail gets made! Greenville County Engineering and Maintenance Division is hard at work paving the extension of the Prisma Health Swamp Rabbit Trail.They are averaging more than 350 tons…yes tons!... of asphalt per day, and they keep marching forward.⁠

More than 2.5 miles of the Laurens Road section is already paved!⁠

⁠

Today, work was done leading up to Keith Road near the downtown airport. And we’ll continue until we reach the new bridge! Soon, the trail will connect Verdae Blvd and Zoo. We’ll keep updating as we go hoppin’ down the trail!

 

https://www.facebook.com/GreenvilleCounty/posts/pfbid02UuYauHYVoUNQ5wK8rhNzh4ZeUbAy5izzR26CiPTXbCUKfKnkCWR12a1F9DjtVA3Kl

[bikeoid]

Another day, another couple hundred tons of asphalt. County crews are producing, on averaging, a ½ mile of new, super smooth, trail every day. We are marching toward downtown at a remarkable pace. Verdae Blvd to Holland Park along the Green Line of the Swamp Rabbit is now open. We are getting close to you being able to hop down the Prisma Health Swamp Rabbit all the way from Travelers Rest to Verdae Blvd! One more major update to come.

https://www.facebook.com/swamprabbittrail/posts/pfbid036enuEudXApH8KxcR5Ti41d6af57ac5SR69y3H43VJzPfkrQUMdXjw9xgH5xap15Dl

[SVL]

21 minutes ago, bikeoid said:

Another day, another couple hundred tons of asphalt. County crews are producing, on averaging, a ½ mile of new, super smooth, trail every day. We are marching toward downtown at a remarkable pace. Verdae Blvd to Holland Park along the Green Line of the Swamp Rabbit is now open. We are getting close to you being able to hop down the Prisma Health Swamp Rabbit all the way from Travelers Rest to Verdae Blvd! One more major update to come.

https://www.facebook.com/swamprabbittrail/posts/pfbid036enuEudXApH8KxcR5Ti41d6af57ac5SR69y3H43VJzPfkrQUMdXjw9xgH5xap15Dl

If they are averaging 1/2 mile a day this should be completely paved by the weekend if not sooner.  Very nice to hear!

[bikeoid]

Laurens county opened their first section of the Swamp Rabbit Trail yesterday.   It currently is just a loop in the middle of the county but they have aspirations of connecting all the way from  Fountain Inn across the county to the Palmetto Trail.    Part of it is in somewhat dense forest, part of it is in open grassy area, and a section of roadway is used to complete the loop.  

 

Laurens County opens its first portion of Swamp Rabbit Trail

[dtowndreaming]

I road my bike on the new green line extension this morning from Verdae to Cleveland Park. The paving stopped about 30 yards short of the bridge over Laurens road. Barring weather or some other conflict this should be done next week. 

[gman430]

Don’t understand why the city just doesn’t pay for the trail from Verdae Blvd to ICAR seeing how the county won’t do it. 

[vicupstate]

2 hours ago, gman430 said:

Don’t understand why the city just doesn’t pay for the trail from Verdae Blvd to ICAR seeing how the county won’t do it. 

The county is probably passively aggressively trying to get them to.  But the city has already picked up the county's slack on this project once.  

[gman430]

[gman430]

https://greenvillejournal.com/community/swamp-rabbit-trails-green-line-extension-opens-to-public-friday/

[Horatio Nelson]

Took a ride on the green line extension. It's great. Well worth the wait.

[GvilleSC]

Looks beautiful! Can’t wait to check it out on foot!

[gman430]

I rode the entire new section yesterday and it’s awesome. I especially like the part that goes right below the flight path of the downtown airport. Great place to watch planes take off and land at a low altitude. A lot of places along this new section to stop and grab a beer also. 

[vistatiger]

4 minutes ago, gman430 said:

I rode the entire new section yesterday and it’s awesome. I especially like the part that goes right below the flight path of the downtown airport. Great place to watch planes take off and land at a low altitude. A lot of places along this new section to stop and grab a beer also. 

Is that your white car in the 7th pic?  I didn't think cars were allowed on the trail. 

Kind of wish it was a light rail line. Now that would be awesome!

[gman430]

8 minutes ago, vistatiger said:

Is that your white car in the 7th pic?  I didn't think cars were allowed on the trail. 

Kind of wish it was a light rail line. Now that would be awesome!

Lol…definitely not. That’s a construction workers vehicle. They’re still doing work where the trail intersects Haywood Road. 

[JCT]

On 6/10/2023 at 1:38 PM, gman430 said:

Don’t understand why the city just doesn’t pay for the trail from Verdae Blvd to ICAR seeing how the county won’t do it. 

The county is still on track to pave the section from Verdae to Millennium Boulevard. There is a delay with the contractor on the bridge over Laurel Creek, but it is not true that the county has abandoned that section. The City Council Priority Projects document posted earlier is from  a few years ago.  At that time the city had not yet agreed to build the bridges that are open now,  so any speculation of the project being "abandoned" by the county was probably just part of that discussion. 

[Galley]

I was surprised to see a foot path that parallels Laurel Creek.  It has likely been there for decades.

[bikeoid]

Last week on Wednesday-Friday, they began construction of the connector trails from the SRT to Legacy Park and Camperdown Academy.  So far just clearing the trees that need to be removed.  Eventually they'll need a bridge over Laurel Creek for the Legacy Park connection.   That trail segment from Woodruff Road to Verdae Blvd is likely to close during the week when they're working on it in the future.

  Encountered a deer next to the trail not far from Verdae Blvd.    I've never seen a deer this tame in the city; I passed by about 15 feet away and it wasn't bothered at all.   If it hadn't been otherwise acting normal I would wonder if it had rabies.    Apparently it's smart enough not to tangle with cars on the nearby streets.

[gman430]

Business booming along new trail section: 

https://www.wyff4.com/amp/article/swamp-rabbit-extension-businesses-customers-sc/44548732

[gman430]

The legacy Connector is now under construction: 

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/6130de1940752f135899a843/t/649c886fa51a4c2bd00574ae/1687980152381/20230628_Legacy+Connector+Update.pdf

[gman430]

Anybody know how much of the requested $11 million they received? 

https://www.scstatehouse.gov/CommitteeInfo/Ways&MeansBudgetDocuments/FY2023-24/ProjectBackupDetails/Burns/Upstate Greenways Trails Alliance.pdf

Edited August 16, 2023 by gman430

[vicupstate]

Sliding Rock II Trail

City Council to vote on appropriation for this extension on Monday. 

[bikeoid]

From city council discussion - 9/11/2023

I missed the beginning, but here are some points -

• Legacy park connector: still in progress, target end 2024
• 3 additional neighborhood connectors along Laurens Rd 2023-2024
• Church St underpass improvement study (visibility, lighting) - 2023
• Cleveland Park pedestrian bridge - direct connection from Richland way tunnel to zoo parking lot (2024)
• Cancer Survivor Park full tread surface replacement - ongoing surface maintenance, aim for better surface lifetime and skid resistance.
• The county 'owns' / operates the trail segment below the Laurens St bridge.   I'm surprised by that, but I don't know exactly what that means; perhaps maintenance?   It seems to be patrolled by city officers now.

They talked about the long term goals of the trail network in the city.   I was struck by how much things have changed since the early days when it seemed that only the hardcore trail users saw the potential to the way it is viewed by most people now.

[SVL]

16 hours ago, bikeoid said:

From city council discussion - 9/11/2023

I missed the beginning, but here are some points -

• Legacy park connector: still in progress, target end 2024
• 3 additional neighborhood connectors along Laurens Rd 2023-2024
• Church St underpass improvement study (visibility, lighting) - 2023
• Cleveland Park pedestrian bridge - direct connection from Richland way tunnel to zoo parking lot (2024)
• Cancer Survivor Park full tread surface replacement - ongoing surface maintenance, aim for better surface lifetime and skid resistance.
• The county 'owns' / operates the trail segment below the Laurens St bridge.   I'm surprised by that, but I don't know exactly what that means; perhaps maintenance?   It seems to be patrolled by city officers now.

They talked about the long term goals of the trail network in the city.   I was struck by how much things have changed since the early days when it seemed that only the hardcore trail users saw the potential to the way it is viewed by most people now.

Is the date for the Legacy Park connector correct?  It was originally scheduled for completion in December 2023 according to the link that gman430 shared on July 22.  I hope they're still on schedule for the earlier date. 

[bikeoid]

1 hour ago, SVL said:

Is the date for the Legacy Park connector correct?  It was originally scheduled for completion in December 2023 according to the link that gman430 shared on July 22.  I hope they're still on schedule for the earlier date. 

You're right - it was a typo that should have been end of 2023.