News

County on track to greenlight Ecusta Trail construction Sept. 19

The Henderson County Rail-Trail Advisory Committee heard an Ecusta Trail update on June 12.

By Bill Moss, Published: July 26, 2023

Bicycle riders, joggers, walkers and moms and dads pushing baby strollers probably won’t get an early gift of a paved Ecusta Trail by Christmas Day but they may be able to enjoy a graded and packed base by then and celebrate the fact that asphalt will come in the spring.

Using words like “unprecedented” and “pinching ourselves to make sure it’s real,” members of Henderson County’s Rail Trail Advisory Committee this month applauded the $45.9 million in grants the federal government announced in recent weeks.

Henderson County Engineer Marcus Jones and his team aggressively marketed the contract to pave the first six miles of the trail — from downtown Hendersonville to U.S. 64 in Horse Shoe — sending out bid invitations to more than 50 contractors locally and regionally. It worked. A mandatory prebid meeting last week drew 20 contractors, “13 of which are holding plans” and presumably evaluating the work in order to bid, said Christopher Todd, Henderson County’s director of business and community development. Some of the 20 people at the prebid meeting were likely subcontractors teaming up with general contractors.

“It was a pretty good spread” of local and out-of-town contractors, Todd said. “We’ll see who comes in and actually submits a bid.”

During the July 12 rail-trail advisory committee meeting, Todd cautioned that the project still needs money to match a grant and to cover such amenities as parking, rest rooms and signage.

“I know a lot of folks see this (federal money) as, we’re done with the raising of money or the money’s all there,” he said. “I hesitate to say that, because I’m paid to be pessimistic. My goal is to make sure that this actually happens. However, we’re a heckuva lot closer than we once were. We’re actually going to have a trail on the ground, it looks like, in the next few years, as we begin to design and build this out in its entirety, which is extremely exciting. We have a great opportunity here in working with the city of Brevard and the NCDOT to help make this project come to fruition as quickly and as cheaply as possible.”

Go date: Sept. 19

Assuming no glitches in the bid opening on Aug. 7, “I’m looking at a notice to proceed (with construction) on September the 19^th,” Jones told the committee “And that would put us, hopefully, completing construction in May.”

The paving contractor won’t be able to work straight through the winter because asphalt plants shut down in November, he said. Other work, including grading, drainage work and installing bridges “minus the paving,” can proceed, however.

“We have determined that prefab bridge structures are available, and there’s not a lot of lead time (for delivery),” he said. “The construction industry has gotten better, less expensive, more available over the last couple of months.”

Overall, because of the windfall of federal transportation grants, momentum is strong for progress on all 19 miles of trail. In the span of two weeks, the Federal Highway Administration announced that:

• Brevard won a $24.5 million RAISE grant (Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity), $5.8 million of which can be used in Henderson County. No match is required.
• The NCDOT received a $21.4 million grant from federal Nationally Significant Federal Lands and Tribal Projects program. Henderson County’s portion is $2.9 million. The grant requires a 10 percent local match. The NCDOT is the administrator of both grants.

Counting four other grants totaling $18.8 million received since 2020, the greenway now has $64.7 million to cover design, engineering and construction.

“That’s a pretty healthy number to have available to address the trail,” Jones said. “But there is a path where that’s not enough money. Everything’s looking better now. But I’m trying to be realistic, not pessimistic. I think we’re in a good place.”

By year’s end, the eastern-most segment of the corridor should have a level, hard-packed base of “crusher run,” an aggregate mix that compacts well.

“We would hope that we can get the base down before the winter sets in and possibly the bridges so that would provide a much better experience on the trail until we get to paving,” Jones said.

It’s expected that the interim surface would be excellent for jogging and suitable for gravel bikes, mountain bikes and strollers but probably not road bikes.

‘We’re still pinching ourselves’

Mark Tooley, the president of Friends of Ecusta Trail, said the Blue Ridge Bicycle Club raised around $90,000 to match grants through its Tour de Transylvania rides this month.

“We’re still pinching ourselves, making sure it’s real,” he said of the two big federal grants.

The city of Brevard, which is managing the Transylvania mileage of the trail, now has money to proceed with design and engineering plans.

The city is working on plans to “really maximize the impact of this funding for both Henderson County and the city in the most effective manner possible,” Brevard Mayor Maureen Copelof said. The city also wants to explore “how those monies can best be used to augment and fill in gaps for some of the things that we cannot fund under these grants.”

In other news from the rail-trail advisory committee:

• Committee Chair Chuck McGrady noted that South Carolina’s legislature had appropriated $15 million toward the purchase of the Saluda Grade rail corridor and reported that North Carolina lawmakers may match that. While House and Senate leaders are still negotiating the state budget, the House version proposes a $15 million grant for the Saluda Grade Trail.
• Conserving Carolina reports that it and other land conservancies will kick off an “alternatives analysis” this summer for the Saluda Grade Trail. Part of the study will be to look at a Saluda Grade-Ecusta Trail connector. As it stands now, the Saluda Grade Trail would end in Saluda, leaving a missing link from the top of the grade to Zirconia, where Norfolk Southern’s rail line gives way to Blue Ridge Southern Railroad.