Funding for the Green Crescent Trail has grown again.
The project received an $800,000 South Carolina Parks, Recreation and Tourism grant, according to the Friends of the Green Crescent Trail, the organization behind the trail, which made the announcement on Feb. 10.
The grant will be used to connect Clemson Park to the Green Crescent Trail Bridge on Berkeley Drive and Gateway Park at S.C. Highway 93 through two shovel-ready trail construction projects in the city of Clemson and the town of Central, which are expected to begin in early 2023, including:
- City of Clemson, Gateway-Connector Project – $647,000
- Town of Central, Central-Clemson Rec Loop – $153,000
Once complete, the Green Crescent Trail will connect the downtowns of local communities, including Clemson, Central, Pendleton and Seneca by using a 40-mile network of:
- Multi-use paths or greenways
- Protected bike lanes
- Sidewalks
- Natural surface trails
- Parks, downtowns and public spaces
- Public transit access points
The project’s future goals also include:
- Connecting the Pacolet-Milliken development on US 76 to Clemson parks
- Providing access to Clemson University’s Botanical Garden, central campus and Experimental Forest
- Building out bike lanes and greenways to connect Daniel High School to Southern Wesleyan University and downtown Central
- Creating a continuous bike route from the Experimental Forest into Clemson University’s CORE Campus
“The shared vision we all have for this multimodal network is finally taking shape after years of important groundwork that had to be laid in order to ensure the larger project’s success,” said FGCT Board of Directors Chair Heidi Coryell Williams. “Few public infrastructure projects have as many immediate and clear benefits as a trail network.”
Since 2021, the Green Crescent Trail has been awarded $1.3 million in state support.
For more information, visit greencrescenttrail.org.
