Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Trails topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
ATAC runs prioritization exercise and forwards five‑year trail plan to Transportation Committee
Summary
Committee members completed an interactive exercise to prioritize trail connections across the city, discussed major projects including the Hamstring Creek Trail and Weddington/Weddington‑area links, and voted to forward the five‑year trail plan to the Transportation Committee for further review.
Members of the Active Transportation Advisory Committee completed an interactive prioritization exercise Thursday and voted to forward the city’s draft five‑year trail plan to the Transportation Committee.
Staff led the exercise using a map and a limited number of segment 'pins' so committee members could choose where to tie denser residential areas into a connected active‑transportation network. The goal, staff said, was to avoid building isolated segments and to prioritize continuity to where people live and work.
The plan reviewed projects across short‑ and long‑range windows. For near‑term (2026–2028) work staff highlighted the Hamstring Creek Trail (estimated as a large project requiring about 180 workdays, with bridge and base work tied to contractor schedules), a short Weddington section that staff described as 'ready to go,' and other developer‑tied segments such as Ruble connections. For 2029–2031, priorities included extending the Shiloh Trail, filling development gaps near Markham/Razorback and a proposed Saint Paul Trail segment that staff estimated at about $7,000,000.
Members discussed sequencing and dependencies (bridge delivery, federal grant agreement timing) and recommended that future plan materials include construction‑day estimates for each project year so the committee and public can better compare workloads. Staff noted that some projects are grant‑funded and will require federal aid agreements that add roughly a year to the schedule.
A motion to forward the five‑year trail plan to the Transportation Committee was moved and seconded by Herschel and Meredith Fasten; the chair called the question and members voiced 'Aye.' The motion carried and the plan will proceed to the Transportation Committee for additional review and scheduling.
Staff also reminded members about an upcoming public input session on an SS4A‑funded corridor project and said both in‑person and online participation options will be available the next day.
