A proposed extension of the Hopkinsville Greenway would add about eight-tenths of a mile to the city’s rail-trail — from Foston Chapel Road to Tie Breaker Park.
The project hinges on a $1.357 million grant, plus $341,758 in matching money from city government.
At their Tuesday night meeting, Hopkinsville City Council members voted unanimously to OK the matching money so city officials can apply for the federal grant.
Tom Britton, executive director of Community and Development Services, estimated the city will know in six to nine months if the Transportation Alternatives Program grant is approved. It is a federal highway grant administered by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.
The extension will take the rail-trail under Eagle Way via an existing tunnel created by a bridge on a bypass.
Mayor James R.Knight Jr. told council members that safety measures will include surveillance camera at both ends of the tunnels. There will be two emergency call boxes on the new section.
Knight said this extension is the only addition to the greenway that he’s interested in pursuing at this time.
If the grant is approved, the rail-trail extension to Tie Breaker Park would be the first major addition to the Hopkinsville Greenway since Phase II was completed in November 2020 from Pardue Lane to Foston Chapel Road. That $4.6 million project, which included the long pedestrian bridge that spans Country Club Lane and LaFayette Road, came out of former Mayor Carter Hendricks’ Wellness, Infrastructure and Neighborhood initiative — better known as WINS.
The first phase of the rail-trail — roughly 3 miles from an existing walking trail along Little River near the public library to Pardue Lane — was completed during Mayor Dan Kemp’s administration at a cost of $1.7 million, including approximately $300,000 in private contributions. It opened in 2014.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
