The French Broad Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) approved a $10.5 Million grant to Henderson County to construct the Ecusta Trail from Horse Shoe west to the Henderson county line. Christopher Todd, Henderson County Director of Business and Community Development, announced the grant funding at the June 8 Ecusta Trail Advisory Board meeting. The funding is part of the Federal Highway Administration’s surface transportation block grant for bicycle, bus, and pedestrian projects in the four-county French Broad MPO region. The largest of the MPO awards, the new Ecusta Trail grant requires a local match of $2,626,809 to satisfy the 80/20 match stipulation. However, timing could be a problem since the funds may not be available until 2026, and trail construction from Hendersonville to Horse Shoe is expected to start next spring. The MPO Board will meet in August to discuss the grant timing and determine if it can advance the timeline.

Local law enforcement members attending the June 8 meeting included Henderson County Sheriff’s Department, Hendersonville Police and Laurel Park representatives. Discussion focused on providing signage for emergency response and good ingress and egress. Stenciling mile markers on the trail every tenth of a mile would enable everyone to identify their location on the trail. A Memo of Understanding (MOU) between Henderson County, Hendersonville and Laurel Park should be in place by the end of this year to define jurisdictions and responsibilities. The County is working to develop stakeholder groups with the current focus being on a Business Owners organization.  These stakeholder groups, like the commercial business owners along the Trail, can help identify concerns and collaborate with other groups in making recommendations for Trail use and management.