The Saluda Grade Trail Conservancy has signed a contract with Norfolk Southern to purchase the historic 31-mile rail corridor that will form a trail connecting communities on both sides of the state line, the organization announced Aug. 5.
The exact terms of the sale are subject to a confidentiality agreement at the request of Norfolk Southern, but the coalition behind the trail has 12 months to exercise due diligence and raise the remaining funding for the trail’s development.
Gaining momentum
The contract signing follows on the heels of a July announcement that Hendersonville-based Conserving Carolina, one of the partners in the trail conservancy, was awarded $450,000 in federal grant funding by the Appalachian Regional Commission for trail development.
Conserving Carolina is partnered with Upstate Forever and Spartanburg-based PAL: Play, Advocate, Live Well in the Saluda Grade Trail Conservancy and is spearheading efforts on the North Carolina portion of the trail.
A dream for decades, the Saluda Grade Trail follows 31 miles of what was formerly the steepest mainline rail route in the country before it ceased operations more than 20 years ago. It connect a string of communities in northern Spartanburg County in South Carolina. In North Carolina, the trail will climb from Tryon to Saluda in Polk County through the Pacolet River valley before ending at Zirconia in Henderson County.
According to PAL Executive Director Laura Ringo, the coming months will involve due diligence like surveying the property, conducting title searches, developing a regional marketing plan and conducting an environmental impact assessment.
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“That means for us, the clock is ticking,” she said.
Ringo was speaking at an economic development roundtable with the mayors and city councils of Inman, Campobello and Landrum, the communities anchoring the South Carolina portion of the trail.
During her update on trail progress, she also said U.S. Senator Lindsay Graham had secured $6 million in federal funding that will help underwrite trail construction.
She said the Saluda Grade Trail Conservancy has worked over the past 12 months with consulting firm TPD Inc. to gather public input and develop proposals for the trail.
The results of that work will be discussed at public meetings Aug. 6 in North Carolina at Polk County High School starting at 6 p.m. and in South Carolina Aug. 13 at Gramling Methodist Church at 6 p.m.
For more information on the trail, visit saludagradetrail.org.
Saluda Grade Trail fast facts:
- Stretches 31 miles along historic Saluda Grade rail corridor, the steepest mainline rail route in the country
- Connects communities of Inman, Gramling, Campobello and Landrum in northern Spartanburg County, South Carolina
- Connects Tryon, Saluda and Zirconia in Polk and Henderson counties in North Carolina
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