Drive along the stretch of Peachtree Street between Riverside Drive and Woodrow Wilson Boulevard and many days you will likely come across pedestrians walking in the middle of the street.
Employees from the University of Mississippi Medical Center and the nearby schools park on both sides of that stretch of Peachtree Street and pedestrians often walk in the street.
Peachtree Street has a sidewalk on its east side by Ida B. Wells APAC Elementary and Murrah High School but not on its west side.
“Seeing pedestrians walk in the middle of the street was a safety concern,” said Mary Alex Thigpen, executive director of the Greater Belhaven Foundation.
Thanks to a grant that is the largest in the history of the foundation a solution will help make the neighborhood a safer place for pedestrians.
The Mississippi Department of Transportation awarded the Greater Belhaven Foundation a $440,000 grant through the Transportation Alternatives Set Aside Program to construct a multi-use trail on a small swarth of land owned by Jackson Public Schools.
The property, which is where Belhaven Creek travels, sits between the west side of Peachtree Street and Newell Field.
The foundation must provide a 20 percent match, which is about $88,000, to receive the funding, Thigpen said. The foundation has two years to come up with the matching funds.
“Our focus is now on the match, and we are working with groups who can help us raise that,” she said.
The 12-foot multi-use trail, which will be built on property that Jackson Public Schools provided a construction easement for, will stretch from Peachtree Street at Riverside Drive to Woodrow Wilson, include a pedestrian bridge over Belhaven Creek and connect to the Woodrow Wilson pocket park that is across from Blair Batson Children’s Hospital and includes a walking trail.
Michael Carmack, Ph.D., JPS deputy superintendent, expects the project to enhance the green spaces near JPS campuses and improve the safety of students at Wells APAC and Murrah High School and pedestrians in the medical corridor.
The trail will also create a new linear park, which could eventually be enhanced with lighting, public art and more, Thigpen said, and provide the neighborhood with greater connectivity throughout the city.
The trail will make it easier to connect to the Old Canton Road trail system, the Museum Trail, Laurel Street Park, Belhaven Heights Park and the Belhaven Mountain Biking Trails.
Rob Farr, a member of the Greater Belhaven Community Improvement District, estimates the design of the project will take six to eight months and the actual construction less than that.
A timeline for construction has not been set. “We’ll have to take bids, make sure we follow the rules and regulations for the grant,” Thigpen said.
