Officials request greenway funding

There could be more construction on Grovetown's Euchee Creek Greenway soon.

Construction on phase one of the greenway, which began in December, is nearly complete, said Bobby Newman, Grovetown's planning and zoning director.

Earlier this month, Grovetown's city council unanimously approved having Jack Burnside, the administrator of phase-one construction, prepare the application for $32,000 in Georgia Department of Transportation funding to get started on the greenway's second phase of construction.

"This is just an expansion of the original plans," said Mayor Dennis Trudeau, who said he is confident the application will be on top of the DOT's list of applications because it is an ongoing project previously funded by the department.

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The greenway is 44.7 acres of land, donated by local businessman Tim Shelnut, that borders Euchee Creek at Harlem-Grovetown Road and extends up to Wrightsboro Road and includes the area behind the new Grovetown Middle School. The wetlands are unusable commercial property, so the city decided to make it a nature park.

Phase one consisted of two miles of multi-use trails, a rock den, a parking area, a pond, a 300-foot bridge, rock outcroppings, picnic areas, an overlook and an outdoor classroom.

The city hopes to extend trails along Euchee Creek all the way to Wrightsboro Road, the middle school and new subdivisions being built, Trudeau said. It also will include a parking and rest area on Wrightsboro Road.

The first step is to have an engineer draw the project and have the cost estimated so the state application can be submitted.