A multi-use paved trail system connecting communities along the path of the former historic Mountain Goat Railroad has two ongoing construction projects to continue building what will be one of the longest paved trail systems in the area when completed.
The 10-foot-wide asphalt trail eventually will link seven towns in Grundy and Franklin counties. The latest projects will connect Tracy City Elementary School to the downtown area and beyond.
“The Mountain Goat Railroad was historic and was the economic driver for this area,” Mountain Goat Trail Alliance Executive Director Patrick Dean said. “We see the Mountain Goat Trail as the new economic driver, as the new way of connecting all these communities that haven’t been connected since the 1980s [when the railroad was abandoned].”
The section from downtown to the elementary school is one of the most anticipated legs of the project and was scheduled to begin last fall but was delayed because of weather.
Tracy City received a $604,000 grant for the project. The trail system is being built through partnerships, grants and some public funding, with the vast majority of the trail being funded through grants.