A pair of cyclists take the new bike lane on Monteagle, Tenn.’s Main Street. The bike lane is part of a streetscaping project that will dress up the the town’s main drag and make it more pedestrian and bicycle friendly, officials say.
Monteagle, Tenn., Mayor Marilyn Campbell-Nixon talks about streetscaping work in the town that will improve pedestrian and bicycle safety while adding a section to the Mountain Goat Trail between Cowan and Palmer, Tenn.
Monteagle downtownMOUNTAIN GOAT TRAIL
The Mountain Goat Trail runs along the historic “Mountain Goat” rail line, which began in the 1850s. Engineer A.E. Barney joined forces with investors headed by Samuel Tracy to build a railroad from Cowan, Tenn., to what is now Sewanee, Tenn., according to www.mountaingoattrail.org. Around 1850 Leslie Kennedy, an experienced Pennsylvania coal miner, teamed with Barney and Tracy to build a railroad and mine for coal. The first coal was delivered in 1856, and the line was extended to Tracy City in 1858. It operated until 1985 and was extended to Coalmont and Palmer. Much of the line is still intact and undeveloped, officials say. The Monteagle downtown corridor project will link the trail through town.
MONTEAGLE, Tenn. — Monteagle’s downtown corridor project, part of an ongoing effort to extend a pedestrian/bicycle trail from Cowan, Tenn., in Franklin County to Palmer, Tenn., in Grundy County, kicked off over the last couple of weeks with road work and striping along the town’s main drag.
The four lanes on Main Street and Dixie Lee Avenue were reduced to two with a central turn lane almost all the way through town, converting the outside lane into a bike lane with a buffer near the curb. Bike lane signs are on the way, according to Monteagle Mayor Marilyn Campbell-Nixon.
The project is aimed at improving pedestrian and bicycle safety and dressing up Main Street with access to the town’s businesses, school and city offices, Campbell-Nixon said.
As a part of the Mountain Goat Trail project, the town’s portion will carry the path across Interstate 24 to the intersection where U.S. Highway 41 turns toward Tracy City, officials said. About a half mile of pedestrian walkway already lies between Main and College streets.