TEP - Phase II, Project 2
“This project will complement Hendersonville’s existing transportation, which is predominantly automobile oriented. It will tie the area surrounding Nannie Berry Elementary, Ellis Middle School, and Hendersonville High School to Memorial Park and Drakes Creek Athletic Facility. These areas are geographically close yet difficult to access by anything other than autos,” states Jim Harrison (past director of Public Works) in his 2003 Transportation Enhancement Project (TEP).
If you live in Hendersonville and have kids, then you are a part-time chauffer and empathize with this sentiment. Getting to our parks and schools takes a car, requires extensive parking facilities, and creates traffic jams. Surely, we have alternatives.
Hendersonville’s TEP LP#3867 with TDOT (Project 2 of Phase II of the City’s Trails) provides for a minimum 10-foot wide multi-use trail running from the corner of Gallatin Rd and Indian Lake along side of Ellis Middle School and back to the High School. It continues around the south side of the school and then turns west and connects with the existing Memorial Park trail. At the bend in the trail a 5-foot wide pedestrian walkway continues south to Sequoyah Dr and then runs to Nanny Berry School. The cumulative anticipated length is 1.3 miles.
Why did the City choose this Project? I have not been able to determine the reason. It was not recommended in the Bicycle/Pedestrian Master Plan and Harrison’s RFP for his project does not offer any clues. My guess is if the City had complied with the its Master Plan and built the multi-use trail along Indian Lake Blvd, then this route would have been a logical extension of this trail to Memorial Park and at the same time provide access to Drake's Creek Park. The Indian Lake path would have run to the corner of Gallatin Rd and Indian Lake and the trail in this TEP continues from here to Memorial Park with a side spur to Nanny Berry School.
Originally, budgeted at $295,460 the construction bids came in much higher, requiring redesign, multiple bid sessions, and a three-year delay in completion. Finally, at the end of this summer, the work was completed and I walked the paths to see how the end result compared to the original plan and took some pictures of the end result.
Although the project included a significant portion as multi-use trails the widest section along side of Ellis Middle School is about eight-foot wide. Most of the route is three foot, thereby making it suitable for only pedestrian passage. The general consensus of the Committee is -- although this design is major deviation from the RFP, it is not an issue. This 2003 proposal no longer reflects the bike and pedestrian needs in this area.
With the loss of the Indian Lake Blvd multi-use path, very few people will want to use this new route for anything but a walkway. For safety reasons most bike traffic avoids the corner of Gallatin Rd and Indian Lake Blvd. That, which would have used this route, now detours from Indian Lake Blvd into Drake’s Creek Park and takes North Park Rd to Cherokee Dr to Sequoyah Dr to get to the north terminus of the Indian Lake peninsula bike lane at Glen Hill Rd.
Whereas changes Public Works made to Project #2 (without Committee input) are reasonable, we are concerned if comparable action happens for Project #1 of Phase II. This 2.6-mile collection of trails travels north along the creek from the Drake’s Creek soccer fields to Wessington School, has some very scenic areas, and provides non-automotive access to the park. It provides a critical section of the north-south route that eventually connects with Sumner County Greenway trail on Long Hollow Pike. It must be built to Federal and State engineering standards for a multi-use path. To diminish this design in the same manner as Project #2 would seriously devalue its suitability as a greenway and transportation enhancement and increase costs to for its long-term maintenance and security.
A pedestrian walkway starts at the corner of Gallatin Rd & Indian Lake Rd. and runs to front of Ellis Middle School.
The walkway continues in front of Ellis Middle School.
The walkway runs along side Ellis. This section is the widest at 8-ft.
The walkway ends at the rear of the High School.
More pictures at the bottom of the page...
A narrow walkway starts at the back of Nanny Berry School and runs along Sequoya Dr. to the High School.
This walkway runs alond the south side of the High School and connects to the multi-use trail in Memorial Park.
