Singing River Trail team asks Jackson County to adopt nonbinding trail master plan

Scott Graham, identified as the new trail development project manager for Singing River Trail, and Brian King of GMC presented a Jackson County Trail Master Plan during the commission work session and asked commissioners to place formal adoption on the next meeting’s agenda.

Graham described the initiative as a 200-plus mile greenway system that would connect towns and expand outdoor recreation across North Alabama. Brian King said the planning process included about 20 meetings with roughly 100 residents and local leaders and that the plan is intended to act "as a roadmap for trail investment" rather than impose a mandate. King also cited studies and examples, saying, "return on investment is at least 72% of construction cost and maintenance" in rural-area examples and pointing to higher returns on denser routes; he gave a cited example of a 31-mile rural trail with an annual local impact of $2,800,000.

Presenters outlined funding pathways — including TAP, RISE and state discretionary funds — and said long-term builds would prioritize protected side paths while short-term work might rely on bike lanes and coordination with county engineering. They asked the commission to adopt the master plan as a tool so the county can quickly pursue available funding opportunities. The chair agreed to add adoption to the next meeting’s new-business agenda; presenters repeatedly emphasized adoption carries no immediate fiscal obligation for the county.