Cookeville City Council Gets First Look At Westward Rail Trail Expansion

An early proposal for Cookeville’s rail trail expansion explores following the West Broad Corridor.

City Council Members heard from engineering group KCI Technologies about what options were available and what work would need to be done to connect the rail trail from the depot to West End. City Manager James Mills:

“It’s definitely what they’ve selected is the best route the most direct route,” Mills said. “And remember if the goal is to go west, we will not be able to use railroad right-of-way while the railroad is active. This is really, we felt like, the only possibility to get there. That makes sense.”

The suggested option for the city contains what’s called a “shared-use path” which is an option large enough for both cyclists and pedestrians to use. As proposed by engineers, the city would widen sidewalks and narrow the street lanes, continuing along the natural extension of the existing rail trail.

The biggest cons presented include changes to the existing parking layout on West Broad, as well as the cost to make the necessary changes. Mills said that the next steps will be to take into consideration the cost for the project and see if the next council wants to pursue this project.

“I think they’ve done a fantastic job for us,” Mills said. “We were scratching our heads on how in the world we were going to get to the West End, and I think the alternatives they’ve given us, we like this design.”