Jonesborough community discusses First Frontier Trail to connect Tweetsie Trail
JONESBOROUGH, Tenn. (WJHL)— The Town of Jonesborough is applying for a Local Park and Recreation Fund Grant (LPRF) to help create the First Frontier Trail, which will ultimately connect Jonesborough to the Tweetsie Trail that runs through Johnson City and Elizabethton.
The grant is from the Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation's (TDEC) Office of Outdoor Recreation.
In Gov. Bill Lee's 2024-25 fiscal budget, $2.4 million was allocated for the First Frontier Trail.
The entire project is estimated to cost a little over $3 million.
'This is a 50/50 match grant, so we would be able to put up the land value of the site location as a dollar figure amount,' Jonesborough's Parks and Recreation Director Chris Kudera said. 'And then, of course, the money that was allocated from the governor's budget would be the other money that the town would put up to cover that 50%.'
Kudera said the First Frontier Trail's connectivity to other towns and cities is exciting for tourism and economic development.
The expansion means someone could travel from Hampton on the Tweetsie Trail and end up in Golden Oak Park in Jonesborough.
Matthew Paul is a trail advocate and a founder of the community group Ride JC. He attended the community meeting and is looking forward to riding on the First Frontier Trail.
'One of the things that I've kind of had a dream about, I went to Germany for a foreign exchange program and it was really crazy to me at the time that you could bike from one town to the next,' Paul said. 'And I got back here and I was like, You know, it'll never happen here. And now we have this opportunity that's coming up for us to do it. So it's been really exciting to do that.'
Paul was also in the original committee that Washington County Mayor Joe Grandy put together to petition the governor for funds for a trail.
'So one thing that I'm really excited about is most of the trails around here are pretty small. You can bike them in maybe an hour or two; by connecting all the Tweetsie together with the First Frontier Trail, you're going to get about a 30-mile section. And at that point, it's long enough to make a day trip out of it.'
Many of the questions and comments people had about the trail at the meeting were about amenities and logistics.
'Is it going to be a true trail system, which is traditionally asphalt, or is that going to be concrete?' Kudera posed.
'What amenities are you going to be able to offer? And of course, what programming are we going to be able to bring into the town whenever this project is completed?'
Paul had input about trail crossings and traffic control.
'And so some of the things that I was thinking about that would be really great about this trail is making sure that we slow down the cars that are coming around when we're kind of doing trail crossings and things like that, so that we can have a better experience as a walker or a biker,' Paul said.
People also brought up E-bike charging stations, water fountains, changing rooms and other ideas.
'So one gentleman brought up signage,' Paul said. 'And it really sparked my thing that when I go and do bike tours of other areas and other trails, the first thing I'm looking for is what's around me. And so being able to see, 'oh, well, this way off the trail, there's this historic church or over here is a small place where you can get food' was really nice.'
The First Frontier Trailhead will be located behind the former Jonesborough Middle School, where the athletic field is.
The trailhead will have a park, a new restroom facility, ADA parking, bike racks, a kids' bike trail and other amenities.
'So projects like these are really great for helping people say, 'you know what, maybe today it's a beautiful day, I can go and I can walk to the park or I can bike somewhere',' Paul said. 'I can go bike to pick up the groceries at Boom Street Market and things like that.'
Paul said he hopes this project will help spur other expansions maybe into Greene, Sullivan or Unicoi counties.
People can still submit questions and comments to the Parks and Rec Department in Jonesborough by calling 423-753-1030 or emailing Kudera at chrisk@jonesboroughtn.org.
The full presentation from the community input meeting can be found at the top of the department's webpage about the trail.
Kudera said the town should know in August whether they received the grant funding.
'And then, of course, it'll have to go through a lot of planning and a lot of communications back and forth with the state,' Kudera said. 'We're looking at hopefully next June [or] July is the projected start time for construction, with that wrapping up in late 2026, early 2027.'
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