After years of planning and plotting its course on paper, an extension of the Granite City Greenway adjacent to Riverside Park is becoming a reality in Mount Airy.
In recent days, crews armed with heavy equipment descended on that location and began carving a recognizable pathway along the Ararat River to the point that on Thursday one could already envision the cyclists, walkers and joggers who’ll be drawn there.
“It’s well underway,” City Manager Stan Farmer said this week in discussing the progress of the effort, adding that it is “at least 50%” complete. The new section is expected to be ready for public use by early to mid-summer, depending on the weather.
“We’re paving the first thousand feet of it today,” Brian Rotenizer, owner of Granite City Paving, said Thursday at the construction site adjoining the existing Ararat River Greenway at Riverside Park.
“We’ve been at it about 10 days, off and on,” Rotenizer said in reference to some interruptions by weather. Initial work began by grading crews to prepare the trail for paving.
The 1.3-mile expansion — known as the Ararat River North Extension — will add an asphalt trail stretching from the park to the area of SouthData Inc. on Technology Lane off Riverside Drive. The Granite City Greenway network presently spans 6.6 continuous miles looping around the city from West Lebanon Street to Riverside Park — a pathway popular with walkers, runners and cyclists from near and far.
Plans to extend the trail originated more than three years ago, mirroring the greenway’s growth as a tourism draw locally and a desire to enhance a key recreational resource.
This was coupled with a need for restoration of adjacent streambanks affected by erosion as part of the extension, which attracted state grant funding for conservation initiatives.
Mount Airy received $1.92 million from four different grant-funding agencies, Assistant City Manager Darren Lewis has said of the financing aspects of the project with origins dating to when he was parks and recreation director here.
The stage for the actual work to begin was set on Dec. 15 when the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners awarded a general construction contract to North State Environmental of Winston-Salem.
A total price tag of $2,225,000 resulted, which was $300,000 higher than the original cost identified, due to the effects of inflation.
As part of their December vote awarding the construction contract, the city commissioners allocated that extra sum from Mount Airy’s general fund balance to cover the overrun between the $1.92 million in grants awarded and the eventual cost after inflation.
In addition to the new paved trail that will result from the Ararat River North Extension, other amenities are to be provided including pocket park facilities, picnic areas, bike racks, benches and fitness stations.
The city manager agreed this week that the greenway extension will provide additional quality-of-life benefits to area residents including exercise and enjoyment, while also boosting tourism.
Lewis says the Granite City Greenway is already the second-most-used recreational facility in Surry County, exceeded only by Pilot Mountain State Park.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com