No Moss Growing on the 212-Mile Singing River Trail

In addition to technology, many of the trail routes are attractive to communities and cities in its path because of the economic development, living improvements, and job creation it will bring to many impoverished areas of North Alabama.

For instance, the Trail of Tears from Decatur to the Alabama/Mississippi state line runs along the National Park Service’s theoretical heritage corridor into sections of an Opportunity Zone. The SRT will provide access to thousands of workers who live and work along the Tennessee River, reinvigorating rural counties and towns that have lost thousands of jobs because of factory closures. In these areas, the SRT and its land use plan will attract workers to the local Lockheed Martin facility.

Working with the City of Athens this summer, the local SRT committee created by City One Stop Manager Amy Golden and Mayor Ronnie Marks, brainstormed a trail route connecting the Richard Martin Rails to Trails to the City of Athens’ Swan Creek Greenway. That trail is underway while another Athens trail route connects Downtown Athens to the SportsPlex and Athens State University’s historic 200-year-old campus. 

This area falls completely within an Area of Persistent Poverty (APP) and is within an Opportunity Zone. The route will give students and residents access to augmented and virtual reality labs, an Education and Innovation Center, incubator space, classrooms, and meeting space at the proposed 85,000 square foot Athens State University Civic and Training Center.

The City of Scottsboro has applied for a $400,000 Recreational Trail Program (RTP) grant to eventually connect local retailers, schools, churches, parks, and the world-famous Unclaimed Baggage Center in Downtown Scottsboro, to Goose Pond Colony Resort. That path will incorporate an eight-mile stretch of proposed greenway, 90 percent of which falls in an Area of Persistent Poverty, to Goose Pond Colony, a recreational area that hosts large fishing and other outdoor events along the Tennessee River. 

Leveraging EPA Brownfield Funding grant, the City of Florence will formalize the western side of the Singing River Bridge to create a gateway through an APP and within an Opportunity Zone, into Downtown Florence to the Tennessee River and its existing outdoor recreation and tourism.

Other trail routes include the Eastern Route masterplan that runs from Bridgeport to Gurley and is fully funded by both public and private funding including Google, Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Jackson County, the City of Bridgeport, the City of Scottsboro, and the State of Alabama. 

The Gurley to Huntsville trail, led by Croy Engineering is supported by Madison County Commissioner Craig Hill, and the Town of Gurley.

The SRT Western Route runs from Decatur to the Shoals and is almost fully funded by 3M, Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Regions Bank, the Tennessee RiverLine, the Lawrence County Legislative Delegation, the City of Courtland, and the Muscle Shoals Heritage Area.

Decatur’s OneDecatur masterplan prioritizes the establishment of a Calhoun Community College Pedestrian Tennessee River Walkway over the Tennessee River where the SRT crosses the Tennessee River. The link will improve access to the riverfront and connect future growth areas north and east of the river, including Calhoun Community College and access to the Wheeler Wildlife Refuge. And SRT is working with Decatur and Morgan County Tourism to identify and map all sections of the 17-mile Dr. Bill Sims Bike Trail.

The Port of Huntsville is currently working to activate over 8,000 acres of Huntsville Airport land to create an outdoor recreation hub that includes an internal trail system linking the airport to the spine of the SRT. It will offer outdoor activities, AirBnB opportunities, food and beverage centers, traditional runway and drone viewing, and other projects.

This section of SRT will also connect with the Wheeler Wildlife Refuge and connect traditionally underrepresented areas in rural Limestone County. 

Along that leg, Schoel Engineering is building a trail route connecting Dallas Fanning Nature Preserve to the town of Triana, the Wheeler Wildlife Refuge, and the Tennessee River. 

Madison City Planner Mary Beth Broeren and the City of Madison has been especially proactive in all things SRT this past year, recently taking the lead on a Madison Boulevard intersection and connectivity study. 

This summer, Mooresville Mayor Nikki Sprader put her full support behind SRT with an official town resolution stating, “WHEREAS, the Singing River Trail will set the tone for future land use and will shape the outlying areas for the next generations.” Additionally, private landowner meetings have begun to create a trial route in the area surrounding Mooresville from Rock House Road to Arrowhead Landing. 

The trail route in South Huntsville is underway and will connect existing greenways with a new SRT greenway between Mountain Gap Road and Golf Road. Schoel Engineering is currently overseeing it with support from Madison County Commissioner Phil Riddick and the City of Huntsville. 

And the town of Courtland passed a resolution to begin the master planning process there, connecting key historical, economic, and natural elements to the SRT.