The Cumberland County Friends of the Trails hopeful that the City of Crossville will soon acquire a much-needed hiking trail easement.
Friends of the Trails President John Conrad said the group is seeking an easement from St. Alphonsus Catholic Church to connect existing hiking paths. It is part of a larger vision for the “Crossville Greenway.” After several years of working to secure the easement, Conrad said the city and the organization may finally be close to completing the acquisition.
“Had an agreement with the priests at the church, and then it had to go to the Bishop, oh, I believe located in Knoxville,” Conrad said. “But all that back and forth has been going on for some time, and we’ve now finally reached an agreement.”
Conrad said the Crossville City Council will vote Tuesday night to approve the agreement to send to the Catholic Church for the bishop to sign. Conrad said once the agreement is approved on both sides, he will ask the city to begin working on the trail.
“We’re excited,” Conrad said. “We are looking forward to getting this trail built. Hopefully, we can get it built this year and move on to the adjacent property that we also need an easement for, and eventually connect it up with our existing Marietta Trail.”
Conrad said hiking has become very popular throughout Cumberland County, bringing in many visitors. He added that completing the Crossville Greenway would be a major milestone.
“We’ve been working on these sections of trails around the city for many, many years, and they are very popular,” Conrad said. “We’ve built about five miles of trails near the Crossville Airport, the one we are connecting to Marietta (trail), which is quite close in town, and they are used a lot.”
Conrad said Crossville has already begun paving certain sections of the Greenway thanks to the grants they have received. Conrad said he hopes to have the entire greenway paved in the future.