<p>Greenwood is looking to build as many as three new trails that would connect parks and existing sidewalks, giving walkers, bikers and joggers more places to go.</p>
<p>Most recently, the city has been working to get permission from IPL to use land the electric utility owns for power lines between County Line and Fry roads. The half-mile trail would connect to sidewalks along County Line Road just south of Community Hospital South to a trail north of Greenwood Fire Station 92 that leads into Northwest Park.</p>
<p>Before any trail can be built, the city will first need to get permission from both IPL, which has an easement to run the power lines, as well as the individual homeowners, who still own the property where the utility easement is, said Rob Taggart, the Greenwood director of parks and recreation. Residents in the area were notified about the proposed trail last week, he said.</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
<p>The first step in that process is a public meeting planned for 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Greenwood City Building. City representatives will go over a presentation of the project and the proposed route the half-mile trail will take and answer residents’ questions about the project, Taggart said.</p>
<p>Some details, such as a timeline for when the trail would be built, how much it would cost or how it would be funded haven’t been determined yet, Taggart said.</p>
<p>The trail is one of three that Greenwood is considering in an area bordered by County Line Road, Main Street, State Road 135 and U.S. 31. The network of trails would eventually connect Westside Park, Northwest Park, Northwest Park Annex and sidewalks on County Line Road.</p>
<p>The largest challenge in adding new trails is finding land, which makes the easement an attractive location, Taggart said.</p>
<p>“Building a trail isn’t hard, it is the land acquisition that is time consuming, which is the unknown,” he said.</p>
<p>Construction on another trail, which would run along Pleasant Run Creek to connect Northwest Park with Northwest Park Annex, could begin later this year.</p>
<p>Designs for that trail are nearly done, though a cost hasn’t been determined yet, he said.</p>
<p>The city secured much of the land needed for the trail by using a federal grant to purchase and demolish several flood-prone homes at the end of a cul-de-sac along the creek in between the two parks. The city is still working to get land from other property owners before that project can start, Taggart said.</p>
<p>Another trail that is under consideration would connect Northwest Park and Westside Park, by following land along Pleasant Run Creek between Fry Road and Main Street.</p>
<p>A $13,000 feasibility study was approved for that project last year, but work has been put on hold as the parks department focuses on the two other proposed trails, Taggart said.</p>[sc:pullout-title pullout-title="If you go" ][sc:pullout-text-begin]<p>Greenwood is hosting a public meeting to get inut about a proposed trail following a utility easement between County Line Road and Fry Road:</p>
<p>When: 6 p.m. Wednesday</p>
<p>Where: Greenwood City Building, 300 S. Madison Ave.</p>[sc:pullout-text-end]
