Greenway Plans Unveiled

By Clint Cox

Jackson County Parks and Recreation Director Chuck Hatcher unveiled the proposed plans for a portion of the Chipola River Greenway last Thursday night at the Citizen’s Lodge Park. Also joining Hatcher was Brian Bearwood of Melvin Engineering, who has worked closely with Hatcher to develop the proposed plans for this greenway trail area.

The plans unveiled last Thursday deal with an area that encompasses the east shore lines of the Chipola River in the area behind Riverside Elementary and property located near the river intersection with the Highway 90 Bridge. Hatcher explained that these properties, along with several other parcels of properties along the Chipola River, have been purchased and leased to local governments (Jackson County and the City of Marianna) for the purpose of preserving the areas natural beauty and allowing for low impact public useage through the establishment of a Greenways Trail System.

In the same manner that Citizen’s Lodge Park was improved over the years with a series of grants, the plans for the new areas would be similar. Hatcher stressed that their first priority is to get these areas open to the public and then gradually make improvements as grants are received.

Hatcher and Bearwood explained to those attending Thursday night’s meeting about the various aspects of the plan for the area. There will be a series of nature trails that use some existing logging trails and dirt lanes. These trails will be gradually improved and will be primarily designed for hiking and bicycling. Since this portion of the Chipola River is also part of the State Canoe Trail for the river, there will be several river access landings that will be designed for non-motorized boat launches (canoes, kayaks, small non-motorized boats). There will also be designated river access areas for hikers and/or folks wanting to access the trails from the river.

Long range plans hope to have some type of bridge or cross over to the western shore line of this same portion of the river since this parcel of land has been leased to the City of Marianna. One idea for the bridge or cross over is to refurbish Bellamy Bridge and relocate it to this area. Hatcher stressed that this idea of relocating Bellamy Bridge is just an idea at this stage and many things would have to come together for this to become a reality.

Proposals for the grants are to be submitted by the end of this month and Hatcher plans to get things rolling as soon as grant funding becomes available.