Plans Underway for Greenway Connecting Knoxville to the Smokies

The Great Smoky Mountains Regional Greenway Council has long had a vision of connecting Knoxville to the Smoky Mountains by way of greenway trails.

TPO staff is proud to have helped them get a little closer to realizing that goal with a plan for linking the existing trail network in Maryville and Alcoa with the greenway trail in Townsend.

The Maryville-to-Townsend Master Plan, endorsed by the Maryville-Alcoa-Blount County Parks and Recreation Commission, calls for accommodating a new trail in the existing right-of-way along U.S. Highway 321, allowing for wide separation between the greenway and the highway. An alternative path following the Little River was also considered, but opposition from property owners kept that option off the table. The plan does note that links to the Little River are still very desirable, if property owners are willing to donate or sell greenway easements.

Included in the plan is an economic analysis that estimates the greenway-once completed-will benefit Blount County to the tune of $65.1 million over 10 years. Since construction is expected to cost $24.5-also over 10 years-that?s a favorable return on investment of $2.66 for each dollar spent. The economic benefits of the trail come mainly from construction spending and tourism dollars from visitors using the trail.

Much of the costs for the trail relate to the 6.7-mile section in the Walland area, northwest of Townsend, where the trail will squeeze between U.S. Highway 321 and the Little River. In places it will be cantilevered over the river. That section?s cost estimate is $3.2 million per mile, compared with $450,000 per mile for the rest of the trail. But the cantilevered section with views of the Little River will be a major draw for visitors.

Planning consultants from Equinox Environmental and Kostelec Planning, both based in Asheville, NC, worked with a Technical Advisory Council that included representatives from the Cities of Alcoa, Maryville, and Townsend, Blount County, the Blount Chamber Partnership, and the Tennessee Department of Transportation. Public input from a series of community meetings and two online surveys was essential to the plan?s development.

The Maryville-to-Townsend plan fits well with the regional vision of a greenway connecting Knoxville to the Smokies. Links within Knox County are planned and funded, and Blount County completed an earlier plan for linkages from the Knox/Blount line to the Alcoa Greenway. Look for the Regional Greenway Council?s vision for a cities-to-mountains trail system to be realized in the not-too-distant future.