Pedestrian bridge, greenspace projects advancing in lower Greenmont
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MORGANTOWN - In the coming days, Bridge Brothers Inc., in Pickens, South Carolina, will load a pedestrian bridge on a flatbed truck bound for Morgantown.
Specifically, it's headed to lower Greenmont for placement across Deckers Creek next to Essie’s Sweet Shoppe at the location where a vehicular span once stood.
Morgantown Director of Engineering and Public Works Damien Davis said Green River Group, the firm the city hired for $412,398.82 to complete the installation, has prepared the site and is awaiting the delivery.
"So, right now the bridge is supposed to be delivered next week. We're hoping the contractor is ready for that bridge. Which they should be. They have asked for a little bit of an extension in their contract, only because the bridge itself took a while to manufacture. It was a long lead item. I think it was 12-plus weeks to manufacture the bridge itself," Davis said earlier this week. "We have a meeting with the contractor tomorrow to work through the steps they're going to take to lift the bridge into place. What side they're going to lift from and that sort of thing."
The pedestrian bridge is just one of several projects underway in that section of lower Greenmont as the city, working through the Morgantown Land Reuse and Preservation Agency and alongside the neighborhood association, is putting years of revitalization plans into action.
Once installed, the pedestrian bridge will connect the neighborhood to the Deckers Creek Trail at the location of a new bike and skateboard skills park that was the focus of a $653,775 contract with Nature Trails.
"It's not quite done. We've got some sitework to do, but the contractor has allowed it to be opened. So people are using it every day. I see a ton of people down there riding bikes and skateboarding," Davis said.
On the Greenmont side of the creek, a new neighborhood park and greenspace will run from the pedestrian bridge location to the split of Pennsylvania and Deckers Creek avenues.
The vision for the park - which will be located in the flood plain below Pennsylvania Avenue - largely draws on the property's natural creekside setting, enhanced with a compacted stone path, picnic tables, art installations, a small performance space and multiple waterside approaches for fishing and lounging.
"Both the greenspace and the improvements to Pennsylvania Avenue in that area and Deckers Creek, they're all 99% designed. We just have to finalize a few dates and things like that once we decide when we're going to put it out to bid," Davis said.
The city is utilizing Community Development Block Grant funds for both the pedestrian bridge and greenspace/Pennsylvania Avenue projects. Davis said once the engineering estimates are in hand for the work, the city can begin to drill down on additional funding sources.
"We're doing those as separate projects. We're doing the greenspace first. One, because there's some hillside stabilization that has to be done as part of that to actually be able to do the sidewalk and lighting above on Pennsylvania Avenue," he said. "So we're going to do the park and then come back and do the sidewalk and the lighting on Pennsylvania Avenue, Deckers Avenue."
The land being utilized for the greenspace project is part of the inventory of properties acquired by the city's Land Reuse and Preservation Agency. But there are still some parcels outstanding.
"Hopefully soon," Davis said when asked when the two dilapidated structures remaining near the split of Brockway and Pennsylvania avenues would be coming down.
"We're trying to identify a path forward working with the property owners. Each property owner is taking a different path. We're hoping within the next month or two that we can get ownership of those properties and get those on the ground," he said. “That way, as we identify funds to build this, we can hopefully put this out to bid and get it under construction in the spring/summer of next year."
Beyond the greenspace, the Land Reuse and Preservation Agency owns about 1.3 contiguous acres starting at the convergence of Pennsylvania and Deckers Creek avenues.
In June, the agency approved an appraisal, survey and environmental assessment of the land in order to develop a prospectus that can be shopped around to potential developers willing to construct affordable housing options.
"We are hoping that by offering this land at a discount and eliminating some of the permitting hurdles in advance, we can entice a developer who can understand and execute our vision," LRPA Chair Jessica McDonald said at the time.