McMinnville will enhance the Bigby River Trail through a $100,000 federal grant aimed at improving connectivity and accessibility across three local parks.
Grant Manager Jordan Pupolos said the Recreational Trails Program funding will be used to widen the existing dirt walking path to between 36 and 42 inches. Pupolos said the project includes replacing a bridge built in 2016 with a 90 foot boardwalk and adding ADA accessible parking at Rocket Park, Sally’s Alley, and Hobbs Park.
“The vision is certainly to have a very connected city where it’s highly walkable,” Pupols said, “Highly bikeable, connected to regional assets through designated trails like the bike Tennessee Rock Island loop and overall just having a community that is regularly engaged.”
Pupolos said the city will not use any cash to meet the 25 percent local match requirement for the grant. The $25,000 obligation will instead be covered through in kind labor from current employees and the use of city owned equipment.
“It’s not that it’s an unsafe trail but again it is volunteer built and volunteer maintained so we’re just really excited to get a professional engineer in there so that it is going forward a professional grade trail,” Pupolos said. “We’re so grateful to our volunteers that have spent the last 20 years maintaining this trail and keeping it as such a beautiful asset for our community but we’re also looking forward to having it be a little higher caliber trail moving forward.”
Pupolos said the remediation work will involve regrading the surface to allow for shared use among walkers, runners, and mountain bikers. The project also features a modular mountain biking skills course designed to help beginners practice in a controlled environment.
Pupolos said the ultimate goal is to link the Bigby River Trail to the Barren Fork Greenway to create a seamless path through the city and into the downtown area. The trail will likely close during the construction phase for safety while heavy equipment is in use.
“I would love ambitiously to see construction starting this winter in January and February and hopefully have the trail opened back up for late spring early summer when people really start utilizing it heavily,” Pupolos said. “With grant work and with government work things don’t always move quite as quickly as we hope but that is certainly the timeline that I’m seeking to abide by.”
McMinnville is currently waiting for the final contract to arrive before seeking an engineer and developer for the project.
