Beaufort County on the South Carolina coast is being heralded by national transportation planners for its project to develop a 13.6-mile multi-use rail-trail that would connect with a new local public transportation system.

According to the county's recently launched rail-trail project website, the pathway would run from Ribaut Road in Port Royal to the Whale Branch River, and could eventually expand into a 20-mile recreational trail. County officials have expressed their hope that the trail, to be built along a section of the unused Port Royal Railroad, will become "a successful regional draw, local recreational amenity and economic-development tool."

Last year, a presentation on Beaufort County's rail-trail plan caught the attention of the Federal Transportation Administration (FTA), which had earlier awarded the South Carolina Department of Transportation a $3.1 million grant to help Beaufort develop a bus service. The trail would connect to the bus system, where riders could then travel with their bikes throughout the area.

With the FTA grant and local matches, Beaufort County has raised about $4 million. Last month, organizers applied to the Federal Highway Administration's Transportation, Community and System Preservation Program for $1.6 million to construct a 4.6-mile section of the trail.

One of the trail's strongest selling points, and the reason it is being applauded by transportation planners, is that it would reduce the need for future investments in public infrastructure. In its grant application, officials point to a projection that by 2025 the regional arterial, U.S. 21, will need to be widened to six lanes in the Port Royal area to accommodate projected growth, at a cost of about $40 million.

Beaufort County is using the new rail-trail project website to encourage community involvement in the process. A public workshop will be held in September to develop a Beaufort Rail Trail Master Plan, addressing such issues as trail width, paving material, trailheads, connecting pathways and how the trail integrates with the surrounding neighborhoods, businesses, schools, shops and parks.

Photo: undeveloped Port Royal Railroad corridor, courtesy of Beaufort County. 

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Posted Tue, Jul 12 2011 12:55 PM by Karl Wirsing (RTC)