Recently I attended the public meeting for the Country Club Rd corridor trail project. Unsurprisingly, there were passionate arguments made both for and against the project.
Our neighbors at Partners for Active Living, SPACE, and Upstate Forever work hard every day to make our community a more livable place. An integral part of their mission is designing, protecting and incorporating shared spaces. This includes trails.
For some these trails are not simply amenities, but life lines. They link friends and families living in scattered neighborhoods. They provide a safe and social place to exercise. They provide connection and opportunity.
In 2018 the Mary Black Rail Trail had a traffic count of 131,000 and Glendale had a count of 44,000. Both preserved spaces exist because someone, or a group of people, had a vision. The Country Club Road corridor connects these two areas and many households to some of the most beautiful and unique green space in the Upstate.
To the residents that have been willing to make sacrifices for this project, I would like to say thank you. Thank you for your generosity and sharing with the rest of the community. And thank you for having the courage to make that decision. With each of these projects we are making a choice about what we will pass along to the next generation that will call Spartanburg their home.
