Sandy Springs is asking the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for a $3 million grant to build another section of its Springway Trail system.
The city council approved submitting an application for a Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Program (GOSP) grant to construct Springway Trail Segment 2E. This segment will connect Segment 2A to Colquitt Road at the Pitts Road bridge, via the Georgia Power transmission line and Fulton County Sewer easements.
“This is a grant that is managed by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and it is to fund parks and trails projects and it comes from a sales tax on sporting goods,” Sustainability Manager Catherine Mercier-Baggett told the council at its Oct. 3 meeting.
The city received a $3 million grant for Segment 2A, which is under construction, she said.
A $3 million grant would cover 44 percent of the anticipated $6.7 million construction cost. Sandy Springs Conservancy pledged $30,000 for the project to meet the local private contribution requirement, she said. The application deadline was set at Oct. 13.
The city had approximately $3 million available in its capital project fund for city trail design that was unassigned and could be used toward the new segment, Mercier-Baggett said.
The project centers around the trail segment, but will also include some stream bank repair that is needed on Powers Branch inside the Georgia Power corridor, Mercier-Baggett said. It also leverages two other projects: the Fulton Annex pedestrian crossing being managed by the Public Works Department and the rebuild of the Pitts Road bridge, which will include pedestrian and bicycle paths.
She responded to Councilmember John Paulson’s questions about right-of-way acquisition for the trail and the Sandy Springs Conservancy’s help with that by saying that the nonprofit organization is talking to property owners about it.
