Meeting Focuses on Trail Rules

Trail rules were the main topics of discussion at the Feb. 26 meeting of Brevard’s Ecusta Trail Advisory Board (ETAB) meeting.

Chris Burns, who represents Henderson County on the ETAB, said the rules, which had been proposed by Friends of Ecusta Trail (FOET), had been reviewed by both the Henderson County Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and RTAC, and neither group found anything “awry” with them.

The rules can be found on the FOET website here.

Burns said Henderson County did not address some potential issues because they do not know if they will, in reality, become issues. He said once the trail is open and in use, it will be apparent if other items need to be addressed.

One item that generated a great deal of discussion is the use of e-bikes. Paul Ray of Brevard’s City Planning Department said Level 1 and Level 3 e-bikes can be used because “you still have to pedal,” but that Level 2 e-bikes cannot because they can run without any human effort. Ray said if Level 2 e-bikes could be used, that could cause confusion because the city’s current Estatoe Trail only allows Level 1 and 3 e-bikes and that the property easements for that trail allow only “non-motorized” bikes.

Board Co-Chair Aaron Baker, who is also a Brevard City Council member, said the term “pedal-assist” should adequately cover the type of e-bikes that can be used on the trail and the board, by consensus, seemed to back that approach.

Given the variety of vehicles and skill level of riders, ETAB member Doug Miller said the speed limit of 15 mph is “unrealistic.”

Burns said the trail must be open at all times because the grants to fund the trail state “you cannot close that trail.” However, both front and rear lights are required from dusk to dawn.

Burns said the requirement of the trail always being open could limit the number of special events, such as road or bike races, that could be held on the trail.

Mark Tooley, president of FOET, said a representative of the Swamp Rabbit Trail will attend the next RTAC meeting to discuss how his group handles special events.

Brevard City Manager Wilson Hooper then reviewed all of the modifications, many of them minor, suggested by ETAB members. 

Burns said the modifications were valid and he would bring them back to RTAC.

In other items, Wilson said he feels “secure” that the approximately $45 million in grants to the city from the federal government will still be available.

Wilson said he was told by Lonnie Watkins of NCDOT that “They’re confident that those grants will remain.”

Earlier this year the federal government had temporarily frozen those grants.

Hooper also said the “working group” focusing on the Ecusta Trail met earlier in the day and had a long discussion about where the trailhead should be located on Main Street.

The group also was notified by Vicki Eastland, who works with the NCDOT, that the project to revise the Asheville Highway near the Deer Lake intersection has been pushed back to 2030. Revision of that section will impact the Estatoe Trail, which will connect the Ecusta Trail to downtown Brevard.

As for work on the Ecusta Trail, the first six miles of the trail, Ecusta East in Henderson County, is scheduled to open June 1. 

The final design of the Brevard section should be completed by the summer of 2026, with the second section in Henderson County, Ecusta West, following a similar timeline.

The next ETAB meeting will be held Wednesday, March 26, at 3:30 p.m. in the Brevard City Council chambers. 

John Lanier