Multiple projects will be underway this year to get the Firefly Trail closer to the finish line.
According to trail development coordinator John Kissane, Firefly Trail Inc. (FTI) has completed 12 miles of the 39-mile trail.
“There is a lot yet to fund and get built, but progress is being made,” said Kissane.
For Greene County, Kissane said FTI is awaiting approval from the Georgia Department of Transportation for grant funding to complete the trail portion going into downtown Union Point, which includes creating a park-like southern terminus. The total project is estimated to cost $2 million, with $1.6 million requested from GDOT. The City of Union Point committed $50,000 in local match funding, and $350,000 was requested from the Georgia Transportation Infrastructure Bank.
FTI is also working on the necessary trail right-of-way between the Greene County and Oglethorpe County lines. When completed, the 4.5-mile section will establish an unbroken 13-mile section from downtown Union Point to the northern Maxeys city limits in Oglethorpe County.
This year, the City of Maxeys will use a $160,000 grant from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Recreational Trails Program to complete the remaining 0.9 miles of trail in Oglethorpe County. The total project budget is $205,000, with $45,000 in local funding from Maxeys and FTI.
Also, in Oglethorpe County, FTI plans to submit an application to the U.S. Department of Transportation for a Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) planning grant. If awarded to Oglethorpe County, the RAISE grant will be used to plan and design a trail segment from Arnoldsville to Lexington.
Athens-Clarke County will complete 3.2 miles of the trail by the end of the year, leaving a short segment just outside Winterville to complete later.
Kissane reported that residents are ‘heavily” using the completed trail segments.
“Social and recreational benefits of the trail have been considerable,” he explained. “We know many local people in Union Point, Woodville, Maxeys, Winterville, and Athens who regularly walk and/or bike the completed trail segments. An electronic counter set up in Union Point indicates that close to a thousand people have used the Greene County segment each month during good weather.”
Kissane said FTI is confident that the trial will also have significant economic benefits once more is completed. A 2016 study funded by GDOT indicated an “economic boost” for the region upon completion of the trail, with construction increasing total output and tax revenue, jobs for the local workforce, and household incomes.