Supes approve funding for riverwalk
By Brian Jones
Dispatch Staff

The Lowndes County Board of Supervisors voted this morning to provide the missing link to begin construction of the proposed Columbus riverwalk project.

"The riverwalk is a $1.3 million project, and we have $1.1 million in a grant from the Mississippi Department of Transportation," riverwalk chairman David Sanders said. "That covers 80 percent, and the city voted a year ago to pay for 10 percent. The county voted to fund the other 10 percent this morning."

The supervisors voted 3-2 to fund the project with Supervisors Joe Brooks and Leroy Brooks opposing the funding.

Officials from Columbus and Lowndes County have just returned from a trip to Columbus, Ga., where they viewed that city's riverwalk project.
The visit was coordinated by Main Street Columbus to explore new ideas on economic development and sources of government funding. Mayor George Wade, City Councilmen Charlie Newel, Sidney Thompson and Fred Stewart, and Lowndes County Supervisors J.L. Williams, Joe Brooks, Harry Sanders and Tommy Southerland went on the trip. They were accompanied by city Secretary/Treasurer Joe Taggart and head of federal programs George Irby, Main Street Columbus director Patsy Johnson, engineer Joey Hudnall, and Sanders.

"The visit was tremendously helpful," said Sanders. "We wanted to visit an actual riverwalk, and walk on it and see it and touch it."

Sanders said that the Columbus delegation met with the architect of the Georgia riverwalk.

"Their architect met with our engineer," Sanders said. "Our engineer" had a lot of questions about how it was done, and our government officials wanted to know all about how it was designed and how it would look."

The Georgia riverwalk followed the course of the Chattahoochee River for about 12 miles, said Sanders, beginning at Fort Benning and extending to Columbus. After it passed out of Columbus, it crossed the river and extended on the Phenix City, Ala., side for about a mile, he said.

"It was paved, in some sections with brick, and well-lighted, and there were little rest areas spaced out about a quarter of a mile apart, with benches between the rest area," said Stewart.

According to Hudnall, the Friendly City's walkway should follow the Tennessee-Tombigbee River. It would connect Riverside Park to the U.S. Highway 82 bridge leading to Starkville, where it would link up with the Corps of Engineers' nature trail from the lock and dam park. It would be about two miles long, most of it lighted, with benches interspersed about every 1,000 feet.

"The walkway itself will be about 10 feet wide, for use by both pedestrians and bicycles," said Hudnall. "We'll have telephones in place for emergencies, and the walkway and bridges will be wide enough to accommodate emergency vehicles if needed."

Hudnall said that there were many questions about maintenance and safety.

"The river there floods occasionally, just like ours does here, and they said that when the waters recede the walkway is covered with filth," Hudnall said. "They told us that it takes maybe a day to a day and a half to wash it off.

"They addressed safety concerns by using patrolmen on bicycles," he said. "We're looking at something similar, but nothing has been set in stone yet."
Sanders said the committee plans to use the knowledge gleaned from the visit for construction of Columbus' own riverwalk.

"Columbus, Ga., was chosen as the city to visit because of its 10-year history of success in renovating its downtown area," Johnson said.