Woodfin – At the April meeting of the Woodfin Board of Commissioners, Woodfin Town Administrator Eric Hardy updated the members of where the various parts of the Greenway/Blueway project are when it comes to construction.
According to Hardy, the newly formed Parks and Greenway Advisory Committee had its first meeting on March 31st. The board consists of Walt Brewer, Lucy Crown, Gerald Green, Chris Bubenik, Coral Darby, and Bryan Messing, with one member yet to be appointed. “[We] had the first meeting. Quite a lively group of folks,” said Hardy. The meeting was limited to two hours and there were “a lot of enthusiastic, interested and capable people on that committee,” Hardy said.
Hardy also said he was also working on a right-of-way agreement with the Craggy Mountain Line, a small historical trolly line still in use; the railroad line’s right-of-way the greenway will encroach upon.
He spoke next about the progression of the Silver-Line Park. Sidewalks and driveways are nearly complete. Vertical constriction is set to begin May 24th with boardwalks over the wetlands, next is the pirate ship playground equipment, which has design elements still in the works. He said Phase 1 (see graphic for what that includes) should be finished and opened by the end of the summer.
As for Riverside Park expansion and the Wave, the design contract has been signed. Hardy told the board that a $400,000 grant from the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund (PARFT) is being applied for and, if awarded, will need to be matched by the town (see article on page 3 for more on this grant).
Hardy ended by saying the town was seeing some movement on the preliminary design on the greenway and NCDOT was making funds available to fund it. He hoped to see a plan within nine months with best-case construction being in the first half of 2022.