The city of Flowery Branch has voted to apply for a Georgia Department of Transportation grant that would help pay for a pedestrian trail network in the city's old town area.
The proposed 1.45-mile trail would start at Phil Neikro Boulevard and East Main Street, where three residential developments are planned, cross the railroad tracks and run alongside Mitchell Street all the way to the Flowery Branch Park near Lake Lanier.
City Manager Bill Andrew said Thursday that the trail is expected to cost over $5 million, requiring a bridge to cost a creek along East Main Street and some improvements to the Spring Street railroad crossing. The city council voted unanimously at its Thursday meeting to apply for the Transportation Alternatives Program grant that would pay for just over $4 million of the project.
In the application, city officials say the goal of the trail would be to provide more connectivity between Lake Lanier and the old town area, as well as making pedestrian railroad crossing safer and linking retail on either side of Atlanta Highway. Andrew said that if the trail is built, it would likely mean that some downtown parking would have to be either relocated or removed.
The city voted on the application at the August 16 meeting in order to meet the deadline of August 31.
