Construction of the Ecusta Trail is proceeding as planned, including completing the last of the Helene storm damage repairs.  With the arrival of warm weather, the work is expected to accelerate, and first phase completion is still anticipated for this June.

Ty Houck from the Greenville County (SC) Parks & Recreation Department spoke with the committee about their experiences hosting “events,” such as fundraising walks and races on their trails, and offered the following recommendations:

1. They never close the trail, but they do publicize the event on their websites and post “real estate” type signs to provide advance notice of events so that regular trail users may plan accordingly.
2. Event organizers must present planning documents that deal with event logistics: parking, set-up, administering the event itself, pre- and post-events, and tear down/clean up.
3. A $5 per person event fee is charged and allocated to trail maintenance.
4. Event organizers provide “guides” at road crossings for safety and direct the flow of the participants.
5. They have not yet had so many participants to need to establish a limit, but they do anticipate it due to the increasing numbers of participants.
6. It isn’t mandatory, but they have laid out several “courses” to make it easier for event organizers to plan and operate their events.

Sarah Schafer from Watermark Landscape Architecture presented the following details on the First Phase trail amenities:

Trail Welcome Stations: They will be located at 5^th Avenue and Yale Road. These will mimic a railroad platform structure, but have no other amenities.

Orientation Markers: There will be 18 markers at 8 trail/road intersections (2 markers per intersection), plus one each at South Main and at Woodridge Drive, where there are proposed trail parking lots. There will be an additional 13 markers with one every half mile.

Benches: The plan calls for 21 total locations for benches, but they will not all be installed initially. This will allow for future bench installments as memorials, etc.

Waste/Recycling Receptacles: A total of five are planned for the following trail/road intersections: Yale Road, 5^th Avenue, 3^rd Avenue, Hunters Glen Road, and Woodridge Drive.

Bike Parking: There will be five bike parking areas with five “hoops” per location. The areas being explored are at Yale Road, 5^th Avenue, 3^rd Avenue, South Main Street, and Hunters Glen Road.

Bike Repair Stations: The three repair stations will be located at 5^th Avenue, Woodridge Drive, and  Yale Road.

Trail Counters: The three trail counters will be located between Brevard Road and Hunters Glen, just past Yale Road, and between Dairy Street and Kanuga Road.

Post & Rail Fence /Landscaping: The landscaping will be placed where roads and the trail are in close proximity in order to frame amenity locations, to provide buffers between the trail and private property, and to increase security.

Parking: There are four proposed locations that will have a total of 24 parking spots. The proposed parking areas are at Wash Creek Drive, Woodridge Drive, Yale Road, and Hunters Glen. RTAC is waiting to see what trail partnerships develop and if NCDOT will allow pull-off type parking.
Autumn Radcliff addressed the board about working with the various county and municipal governing bodies to coordinate zoning and other regulations with a “zoning overlay.”  This biggest concern for the first phase, which runs through Hendersonville, is accessible parking. The Henderson County Commissioners have asked the RTAC to make a presentation at their upcoming April 7^th meeting.  Autumn prepared this document.

Mark Miller