Parks bond money will pay for 10-mile pedestrian, bike trail.

The city of Wilmington plans to build a 10-mile "cross-city" trail that will lead walkers and bikers from South College Road to Halyburton Park to Wrightsville Beach.

The 8-foot-wide path is one of the many projects the city is building with the $35.5 million park bonds money that New Hanover County voters approved in May. 

"The bike and trail system will give our citizens an alternate mode of transportation. This is going to be one great thing for our community," said Mayor Bill Saffo during a Friday news conference at Halyburton Park to announce the project. Saffo said work on the "pilot" stretch of the trail - from South College Road through Halyburton to the Cameron Art Museum - will begin "immediately."Gary Shell, the city's director of parks, recreation and downtown services, said that stretch will cost between $300,000 and $400,000 and take six to eight months to finish. Plans call for the multi-use trails to both run alongside major roads such as Independence Boulevard and Eastwood Road and merge into loop trails that run through numerous landmarks, including city parks, a planned garden and outdoor space at the art museum, the 50-plus acres of the Alderman Preserve and the University of North Carolina Wilmington. It will also intersect with existing and future trails, parks, public schools and shopping centers such as Independence Mall.

City officials said Friday the project would be impossible without collaboration with a number of private entities that have agreed to provide land or trail connections for the citywide trail.

Shell said the trails should offer new ways for residents to move from place to place without cars and give families a safe way to enjoy the city without walking on busy streets.

"With traffic in Wilmington such as it is, we know that's not the place you want to be, especially with children," he said.

The trails will have to cross major roads such as Shipyard Boulevard and Oleander Drive. Shell said the city would paint crosswalks and, in the future, install signals to ease crossing at major roads.

Park bonds on the move

About $1 million from the park bonds was allocated for a trail and greenway system. Securing grant funding to accompany bond money and obtaining easements with property owners will make finishing the trail a long-term project, Shell said.

"This is going to be a growing episode," he said. "It's not something we're going to do overnight. It will probably take a couple of years to get here."

The announcement gives a head of steam to the much-anticipated park bonds projects. Shell said the city plans to announce other bond projects in coming weeks. Shell said projects such as Maides Park improvements and the Greenfield Lake Amphitheater are moving quickly toward the construction phase. The city also hopes to finalize a land purchase for the planned baseball and softball complex.

"There's a lot of things happening here at the same time," Shell said.

Chris Mazzolini: 343-2223
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