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Finlay Park/Three Rivers Greenway /Rails-to-Trails System


Doug L

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  • 4 months later...

It appears as though there is a proposal to turn the abandoned Seaboard Airlines railroad bed into a 0.9 mile pedestrian greenway that will be part of a larger trail system. The trail head will be at the Elmwood overpass and will terminate at the tunnel at Lady Street. Sounds like a great way to reuse the abandoned railway.

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It appears as though there is a proposal to turn the abandoned Seaboard Airlines railroad bed into a 0.9 mile pedestrian greenway that will be part of a larger trail system. The trail head will be at the Elmwood overpass and will terminate at the tunnel at Lady Street. Sounds like a great way to reuse the abandoned railway.

That would be fabulous - and while we are at it let's get rid of all the railroads that go through the middle of town and turn the railbeds into trails and future mass transit arteries! It is ridiculous to have trains stop traffic on Assembly and not to be able to use all those acres of land between USC and Olympia. I know that this is wishful thinking, but we need real leadership in our city that would deal with things like this. By the way, who/what exactly is the Vista Greenway Committee?

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I watched the 12/8/10 City Council meeting on Channel 2 and they voted unanimously for the .9-mile walkway from Elmwood Avenue to Lady Street. It will be paved and landscaped with lighting in the tunnels. They sounded as though it's shovel-ready.

Edited by CorgiMatt
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I watched the 12/8/10 City Council meeting on Channel 2 and they voted unanimously for the .9-mile walkway from Elmwood Avenue to Lady Street. It will be paved and landscaped with lighting in the tunnels. They sounded as though it's shovel-ready.

Wow thats good.

wel i can scratch my plans i wanted for that area! for good now ^_^. it probably wouldnt of worked anyway.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Here's a great piece about the future of the greenway, particularly on the Columbia side.

One thing that I did not know was that money that was supposed to go towards completing the greenway on the Columbia side of the river was spent instead on the Esplanade at CanalSide and CanlFront, the new addition to EdVenture museum which faces the river. I have to say, that was a big misplacement of priorities under Coble's watch. While I'm not against the projects that did happen, they should have taken a back seat to those projects which would have sped up the development of the greenway on the Columbia side of the river. The Esplanade in particular could have waited until around the time the next phase of CanalSide is built. As of now, it's really pretty but also a bit isolated and probably underused since the critical mass in population doesn't yet exist at CanalSide.

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I changed the title of this thread to include a rails to trails initiative that's been proposed for the downtown area. The 0.9 mile stretch of abandoned railway from Lady to Elmwood would be the first leg of the trail. The great thing about the trail system is that it's being proposed by downtown residents. Although the city owns the railbed where the path will run, the neighborhoods didn’t start by asking the city to pay for the trail. Instead, the neighborhood group has taken the lead on planning and fundraising, and it’ll be applying for grants; already, it’s seeking a $100,000 grant through the state Parks, Recreation and Tourism agency. It’s also been granted $50,000 in hospitality tax funding and it’s open to other partners. The good thing about this is that it frees up city council to continue focusing on the Three Rivers Greenway while the neighborhood group focuses its efforts on the trail system. Cliff Spann, president of the Arsenal Hill Neighborhood Association, says he’d eventually like to see a bike path along the entire stretch of rail, which runs from the spillway at Riverfront Park all the way up to the Drew Wellness Center.

I think this trail system should take some pages from Greensboro's downtown greenway loop (the first, maybe only, city in NC to have one) which includes public art as a significant feature.

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I think this trail system should take some pages from Greensboro's downtown greenway loop (the first, maybe only, city in NC to have one) which includes public art as a significant feature.

Greensboro definitely has the right idea. What would be the easiest way to connect this project with the existing Three Rivers Greenway? I think Columbia should use this time to spruce up Finley Park a little bit, specifically on the Gadsen Street side where this trail would spill into.

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  • 2 months later...
  • 1 month later...

The Salvation Army of Columbia has raised about $2 million to help land an $80 million grant to build a Kroc Center, which is an education, community and recreation center, on the Three Rivers Greenway.

Seems as though the community has been really generous in this effort, as the effort was only announced a month ago.

Most communities begin fund-raising after their grant has received preliminary approval. Showing the financial support of the community upfront could help the city�s chances in landing the grant.

In this regard, Columbia is ahead of Greenville in its fundraising efforts. Greenville has been awarded a Kroc Center grant, but has not yet raised its first million.

Salvation Army officials envision a 100,000-square-foot recreation and community center at a location on the Congaree River that would house programs such as boating, swimming, music, art, health care and day care. The facility would not be a shelter or feeding center for the homeless, the Salvation Army�s traditional role in Columbia.

Access entire article here.

Here's a list of programs that would move to the center if it is built.

I ran across this from a google search, and was curious how Columbia's status on a Kroc Center stood? Greenville raised its funds and is anxiously awaiting the grand opening of the new center.

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  • 10 months later...

A good case is laid out for finishing the Three Rivers Greenway system in this editorial in the Columbia Regional Business Report. The two most significant missing parts are about a mile of trail around the Riverbanks Zoo, and a footbridge across the Broad River to get hikers and cyclists from the east bank of the Congaree River to the east bank of the Saluda River. Mike Dawson, director of the River Alliance, said the section around the zoo could be built relatively quickly. It just needs money. Dawson estimated that the greenway section around the zoo could be completed for about $1 million. A footbridge across the Broad River is a bigger challenge. So far, there has been no engineering and design work done on such a project, and the cost and difficulty is anybody’s guess at this time, Dawson said.

Ann Timberlake, executive director of the League of Conservation Voters, urged the group to insist that the Three Rivers Greenway connect directly with downtown Columbia. Dawson responded that redeveloping Rocky Branch Creek as a greenway would provide unfettered trail access from Five Points to the Congaree River.

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I already emailed the mayor and my council reps, and a shouted in all caps on Cameron Runyan's Facebook page (in case he's elected) to finish the greenway. Mr. Runyon 'liked' my comment. Mayor Benjamin has said several times it is one of his priorities.

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  • 3 months later...
It appears as though there is a proposal to turn the abandoned Seaboard Airlines railroad bed into a 0.9 mile pedestrian greenway that will be part of a larger trail system. The trail head will be at the Elmwood overpass and will terminate at the tunnel at Lady Street. Sounds like a great way to reuse the abandoned railway.

Haven't heard much in terms of progress on this project since the proposal, but it looks like it has silently been plowing along and is making ready for its grand debut. Good news!

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I was wondering if I was the only one out of the loop on this. Glad to see it happening, but also surprised that it hadn't already happened, since it only cost $200k or therebouts. This idea has been around since at least the early-mid '90's.

I also hope its popular very early on (I will definitely walk the trail the next time I'm in Columbia) and that the second phase won't be too far behind. It's good to see quality of life projects like this and Canal Front finally begin to see daylight. Now if the waterfront park could only get off the ground...

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  • 5 weeks later...
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City manager Steve Gantt said he’s working on a “temporary greenway” that would fill in the missing, one-mile section from the Gervais Street bridge south to the Blossom Street bridge. The trail would be a precursor to a riverfront trail connected to a larger, 74-acre waterfront park that officials hope could begin to take shape this fall. Gantt said he’s been talking with riverfront property owners about a path that would allow residents to walk or bicycle between the S.C. State Museum on Gervais street and USC’s baseball stadium in the Granby neighborhood.

To get the $51 million park built, two funding options are on the table: The first is the proposed penny-on-the-dollar sales tax for transportation, which voters will consider in November. The other is a tax-increment financing district that will require agreement among the city, Richland County and Richland 1 school board.

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