Latest news with #FirstFrontierTrail
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Yahoo
$5M secured for Jonesborough, Johnson City bike path link
JONESBOROUGH, Tenn. (WJHL) — Northeast Tennessee's cycling trail network will soon get a long-desired link creating a safe journey from Johnson City to Jonesborough thanks to a $5 million state budget appropriation. PREVIOUS: Tennessee Governor allocates $2.4 Million toward Tweetsie Trail expansion On top of $2.4 million that went to Jonesborough last year, the money will allow completion of what's called the 'First Frontier Trail.' 'This money specifically will be for Johnson City to build their part of the trail to the city limits on the Jonesborough side,' Jonesborough alderman Kelly Wolfe told News Channel 11 Wednesday. 'It will link Johnson City and Jonesborough, and then in links in a way that proceeds on up to the Tweetsie Trail through Johnson City. 'It's a great anchor and a great kind of main artery,' Wolfe said, adding that Jonesborough is also constructing other trails around town with last year's funding. 'Certainly, we hope that there's many branches and many more trail connections to come, but to have an trail eight-foot-wide running from Jonesborough to Johnson City is a big deal.' A slight gap that will remain between Jonesborough's current route out of downtown toward the municipal lines is also going to get completed, he said. 'The county (Washington) and the town applied for a separate grant, a local park and rec fund grant to bridge the gap between Johnson City and Jonesborough on that little bit of a stretch there.' The trail will follow the Old Jonesborough Highway's right-of-way, with Johnson City's portion picking up where Sunny Slopes Drive comes into the highway. Wolfe, who has been closely involved in drumming up support for the project in Nashville, said the highway was originally part of the Bristol to Memphis route and has a wide right-of-way. 'There might be one or two instances of right-of-way acquisition needed, but the overwhelming majority of what's going to be done will be on existing road right-of-way,' Wolfe said. Matthew Paul is a member of Ride JC, a bicycle advocacy group, and also served on a First Frontier Trail committee. 'Being able to go here from Jonesborough all the way into Johnson City is going to be one of those things that I think is going to really bring a lot of people out onto the trail,' Paul said. 'I'm really excited about that and I know it's just the start, and this is kind of one of the backbones that we're building to connect the communities in our region together.' Wolfe said he believes state leaders got behind the project because non-motorized trails can help communities in a lot of different ways, including spurring both residential growth and outside visitors. 'There's a project or two that will be able to connect to that that are upcoming, that see that trail and the recreational amenities like that as a big plus for the folks they hope to attract,' Wolfe said. 'Plus, if you look at the map, that road gives you a lot of opportunities to branch off and head other places, either into some existing subdivisions or maybe existing city parks.' Wolfe hopes the trail, which follows a historic highway that was the route into 'The West' more than two centuries ago, will include historic signage and other features similar to those found along the Tweetsie Trail between Johnson City and Elizabethton. Paul said he thinks the rise of e-bikes could put more tourists and folks wanting to travel between the town and the city on the trail than would have traversed it just a few years ago. He mentioned the difficulty finding parking at the International Storytelling Festival as an example of when people might use the route. 'They can stay in the hotels in Johnson City and then bike or walk or whatever they need to do to get into Jonesborough, and we can save that parking for people who need it,' Paul said. 'I think as more people get on e-bikes, we're going to see a shift from the traditional cyclist. You're going to see everyday people getting out and having fun on the bikes, but also being able to do things like go get groceries or take the kids to school or things like that.' Getting more people out and moving is another benefit, Wolfe said. 'We're looking at it as a great opportunity to encourage outdoor activity,' he said. 'I think the governor looked at it that way.' 'Healthy living is something that we have grown large enough, I think, to have a serious discussion about. When you see major roadways planning now they're planning with pedestrian and bike access.' While he expects advocates like Paul to see a continued growth in trails within cities and towns, Wolfe said the fact that linear trails are likely to safely link Jonesborough, Johnson City, Elizabethton and Hampton within several years is an exciting prospect in and of itself. And he teased the distinct possibility that the six-mile stretch from downtown Jonesborough along Boones Creek Road to Interstate 26 will end up with a bicycle component to it before too long. 'How cool would it be to be able to get on your bike or start walking in downtown Jonesborough and either be able to end up at I-26, tagging on to some new retail development that's going on out there, or go the other way and end up in Hampton and go through Elizabethton and Johnson City and just enjoy as much of God's beauty as you can along the way.' The state funded a Tweetsie Trail extension between Valley Forge and Hampton two years ago. Some gaps remain between Elizabethton and the Hampton end of Valley Forge, but most of the route will avoid busy roads once that's complete. The recent appropriation appears likely to put the region just a few years from a roughly 24-mile safe bike ride from Jonesborough through Johnson City, Elizabethton and on to Hampton becoming reality. Paul, who saw a very developed bike infrastructure when he lived in Germany for a time, said the region is advancing further than he once thought possible in that regard. 'The dream of having a regional network that you can walk or bike on, I'm still kind of like waking up to this dream, if that makes sense,' he said. 'It's a very good dream.' Wolfe hopes the news, and what it will mean once the work's done, is a 'page turn' for a region that's been slogging away in the aftermath of an unprecedented natural disaster in Hurricane Helene. 'It's nice to see something that's tying communities together in the news,' he said. 'You've seen so much about destruction and so many wonderful things that have come from that with people helping people, neighbors loving neighbors. 'This is a fresh start, and we hope to see great things happen in the future with this trail and this trail system.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
22-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
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@ 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.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Jonesborough BMA passes resolutions to help move forward water treatment plant upgrades
Jonesborough, Tenn. (WJHL) – On Monday, the Jonesborough Board of Mayor & Aldermen (BMA) passed an initial and full resolution that will help them proceed with expanding their water treatment plant. Jonesborough Mayor Chuck Vest said the resolutions will help the town receive funding from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for the project. 'Once we get the funding, you'll see the construction begin on our water treatment plant,' Vest said. 'But a bigger one of the more important things now is building a larger transmission line from that plant up to our town that'll transmit many more gallons of water that we need.' PREVIOUS: Jonesborough moving forward with planned new water treatment plant Vest said the town should know within months when they'll receive the federal funding. That's also when construction should start. Upgrades to the plant will allow the capacity to have from the now roughly 3 million gallons of water to up to 8 million, with the ability to expand. 'Jonesborough is a growing little town, but we also know that Washington County, which is where [a] majority of our customers are, is growing just as much as the town of Jonesborough,' Vest said. 'We've got to think about the next 30 to 40 to 50 years. By securing a larger plant with the capacity to almost triple our water output, it's going to solidify the future of our community for the next 30 to 40 plus years.' Vest said the town is mostly finished with the design phase for the plant. 'Expanding this water system began many years ago, and it started with a design phase, but also putting new readable water meters out into our system,' Vest said. 'All that's been done. Really what you see happening now too is for this larger transmission line that runs from our plant to our town, which is super important, we're having to go out and get easements through to cross people's property, and that's been underway for close to a year now, too.' Vest hopes the water treatment plant upgrade can be completed within two to three years. Also at the meeting, aldermen approved a resolution to apply for the Local Park and Recreation Fund Grant (LPRF) to help create the First Frontier Trail which will connect Jonesborough to the Tweetsie Trail. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
