A Signal Mountain High School student, Camilla Mincey, and her father are proposing to construct bike trails through the Signal Mountain Town Hall Complex, a project for which the town council has unanimously expressed its support.
Cycling is prohibited on all trails in town parks such as Rainbow Lake and Green Gorge, said Town Manager Boyd Veal, making the addition an asset to local recreational offerings.
The proposed trail route, the exact length of which has not yet been determined, will run from the back of the tennis courts located down the hill from the library, wrapping around past the pool with a loop heading toward the recycling center, said Veal. In discussing the route with Parks and Recreation Director Jarred Thompson, they identified some areas as potentially problematic due to wetness or because there is already too much foot or car traffic.
“Her dad is on the parks board and relatively experienced at building trails like this, so I’m fairly comfortable that they could do it properly,” Veal said. “But regardless, once it’s done, it would be an additional facility for the town to maintain.”
The original plans for the project have been scaled back slightly, with the location of the trail route now farther away from the Signal Mountain Playhouse and the library, he added. The reasoning behind the change was to keep the cyclists separate from the activities going on at the playhouse and library, the latter of which plans to expand soon.