Greenway

The Sanford City Council took what’s going to be remembered in 50 years as an historic step Tuesday when they voted to spend more than $170,000 that wasn’t in the 2007-08 budget to begin work on a greenway that, when completed, will provide a 28-mile walking trail for Sanfordians and others from Kiwanis Park to the Endor Iron Furnace along the Deep River and then back into downtown Sanford.
Tuesday’s vote secured more than $680,000 in funding for the project from the federal government (the feds had originally appropriated $800,000 for Sanford for the project, but in true congressional fashion some of the money disappeared and what remained required some local spending in order to attain). Although the funding only pays for 1.5 of the 28-or-so miles of the trail that are proposed, it’s a good start and something Sanford should do.
Questions have been raised with regards to safety on the trail, and while I understand those concerns, I’d point out that this isn’t the first greenway ever built and I’m sure the Sanford Police Department (and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, when the trail gets out to their jurisdiction) will be able to find ways to effectively police the trail and ensure as best they can the safety of the people walking it and the people living near it. And with construction set to begin sometime next year and completion of the first phase slated for late 2008, there’s also plenty of time to address and answer those questions.
In any case, this is a good move for our city and county. Bob Bridwell, a city planner who has done much of the behind-the-scenes work, said at Tuesday’s meeting that the trail will eventually be the premier recreational attraction in our area. And he’s right. Everywhere I’ve seen these greenways buzzes with a feeling that you just can’t describe.
Making this town more pedestrian-friendly is inarguably a good thing, and doing it with a mixture of rural tranquility and opportunities for commerce is doing it right.
Two towns I’ve visited that had similar greenways are Murfreesboro, Tenn. (outside Nashville) and Carmel, Indiana (outside Indianapolis). Both just kind of buzzed with life: people strolled the paths through town, there were plenty of little businesses nearby (coffee shops, restaurants, book/record stores) and while I don’t know the history of how greenways came to be in those towns, I have the feeling that their existence led to the growth around them. I’d love to see something like that happen here.
So my hat’s off to the Sanford City Council right now, and I hope future leaders have the same vision as the project moves forward in the coming years.

Moving is no fun

But I got all settled into a new place Sunday, and it’s going to be nice. Once I get all those boxes unpacked, anyway.

Expect more blogging soon.