Imagine a future in which commuter biking is as easy as driving your car. 🚴
The North Shore Greenway — a 14.4 mile, 10-year project — has been a topic of conversation since 2015. The vision? A multi-phase greenway that would connect Renaissance Park to Red Bank without vehicle traffic + tunnels. The North Shore commercial area would connect to Hixson without the S-curves. Later phases would support a connection from Signal Mountain to Moccasin Bend and beyond.
Now, local organizers are in the public input phase. They are encouraging residents to take a survey (about five minutes) to provide their thoughts on the project. Public meetings will follow with a full report thereafter.
This project is one of several ongoing additions to Chattanooga’s Riverwalk trail system. Both the South Chickamauga Creek Greenway + a project that extends the Riverwalk into St. Elmo are close to complete. The National Park Service is also seeking public input about connecting a 21-mile stretch from Cloudland Canyon to Chattanooga.
The projects (10-20 year timeline)
Project 1 — Stringers Ridge to White Oak
Project 2 — Manufacturers Road Greenway
Project 3 — Cherokee Boulevard Cycle Track
Project 4 — Hixson Pike to North River Soccer Fields Greenway
Project 5 — Bike/walk Boulevard connection through Red Bank
Project 6 — The Lupton Rail-with-trail Greenway
Project 7 — North River Soccer Fields to North Chickamauga Greenway
Project 8 — Pineville Road to Portland Park Greenway
Background
Jim Johnson applied and received a Causeway grant in 2015 to allow Rails to Trails Conservancy to study the potential for a greenway. The organization seeks to “preserve unused rail corridors by transforming them into rail trails.”
They found that “conditions are favorable for rail-with-trail development and present a promising opportunity in an area currently underserved by trails and greenways.”
Read the full report here.
A conceptual plan — including design elements, cost, obstacles + routes — is in draft form.
Poll
