Fishing Creek Trail project receives funding for completion

The Oconee River Greenway Authority was awarded a $200,000 grant from the Department of Natural Resources to complete the Fishing Creek Trail. In addition, the county has allocated SPLOST funds that, with addition to the grant, will cover the estimated $760,000 project to complete the trail.

According to Oconee River Greenway Authority Treasurer Marion Nelson, phase three of the project has been completed paving 0.83 mile of the trail. At the end of this phase, 0.5 miles of the trail was still to be paved.

This funding will support finishing the trail to have it completely paved to Flag Chapel Church.

The Fishing Creek Trail begins at the Oconee River Greenway, a community space for walking, biking, fishing and sightseeing, along Fishing Creek and ends at West Franklin Street. The original plans for the Greenway Trail were inspired by the development of the Ocmulgee Heritage Trail in Macon.

“The Ocmulgee Heritage Trail was getting a lot of press and attention at the time and inspired several visionaries from Milledgeville,” said Nelson. “They wanted to bring that excitement and attention to the Oconee River flowing through Milledgeville.”

Legislation was proposed and passed in 2002 to establish the Oconee River Greenway Authority, which is governed by a board that consists of the mayor of Milledgeville, the Board of Commissioners chairman, president of Georgia Military College (GMC), representatives from the Georgia Forestry Commission and Department of Natural Resources, and community volunteers.

Nelson’s role is considered one of the community volunteer positions.

“Peter Boylan was the president of GMC at that time and was one of the most instrumental persons in seeing this project get off the ground.

We were successful early on in getting a grant from then congressional representative Jim Marshall, and we have been subsequently supported by grant opportunities and SPLOST funds since then,” said Nelson. 

 The original concept of the Fishing Creek Community Trail was proposed by a former professor at Georgia College & State University (GCSU), Dr. Jim Lidstone. 

According to Nelson, he envisioned connecting the original part of the construction along the Oconee River up the Fishing Creek Corridor to Central City Park and even extending the trail to GCSU’s West Campus and Walter B. Williams Park.

“However, at that time, the authority was looking to extend the trail south to connect with Central State Hospital property. We had spoken with the Central State Hospital Redevelopment Authority, and they were on board,” said Nelson. “We had applied for a million-dollar Transportation Enhancement Grant funded by the Federal Highway Administration but during the final approval process of that grant we ran into landowner opposition.”

The opposition to the south extension coincided with Lidstone’s proposal, so the board voted to “change the scope” of the grant to support the first phase of the Fishing Creek Community Trail. 

During this change, the city had applied for a Department of Natural Resources grant for a recreational trail and the two grants were used together to fund the beginning of the project.

“A portion of the trail was paid for by the city of Milledgeville’s grant and the bulk of phase 3, which was recently completed, was funded by the Transportation Enhancement Grant,” said Nelson. “However, we did not have the funds to reach Central Park, so we changed the scope of the project to terminate phase 3 on West Franklin Street at Memory Hill Cemetery.”

The Oconee River Greenway Authority hopes to partner with GCSU and other partners to extend the trail to reach the park and GCSU’s West Campus. While discussions have begun, Nelson stated that no decisions have been made about this extension.

“We have seen unprecedented use by all ages and different types of people of the river trail,” said Nelson. “The project has been overwhelmingly successful, I think. When we committed to the phase 3 project, that was the extent of our involvement… focusing on the Oconee River Corridor and we are just about out of available space due to private property limitations to extend the trail further along the river.”

The current funding will complete the paving of the last 0.5 mile of the trail between Elbert Street and GMC but if future funding is available, Nelson stated that extending the trail south of Fishing Creek is an option as the county currently holds a parcel for the Authority along the former McMillan property.

“The biggest limitation throughout this project is periodic flooding. We have met those challenges but we ask for the public’s patience as we continue development,” said Nelson. “These periodic floods cause a need for cleanup and due to the natural sediment, that is deposited on the trail, cleanup cannot be carried out until the sediment dries. We have some dedicated volunteers who, together with our city and county public works partners, remain ready to help us with periodic cleanups."