Countywide Trails Master Plan
Countywide Trails Master Plan
The Countywide Trails Master Plan is a comprehensive planning effort undertaken by the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners to study and develop a high-quality network of trails within Gwinnett County. The plan aims to provide innovative ways for residents and visitors to travel across the county while also creating opportunities for exercise and socialization.
The planning team, in collaboration with the county, identified the need to study the development for such a trail network during the Comprehensive Transportation Plan (CTP) planning effort. Recognizing the importance of trails in enhancing connectivity, promoting active lifestyles, and fostering community engagement, the Countywide Trails Master Plan was initiated in April 2018 to address these needs.
The Countywide Trails Master Plan is the culmination of partnerships among the Board of Commissioners, County Departments, the 16 Gwinnett Cities, six Gwinnett Community Improvement Districts (CIDs), other agencies and organizations, regional systems, and the public. It's development and current implementation rely on strategic coordination between the Department of Community Services and the Department of Transportation, as Gwinnett Trails will provide recreation and transportation opportunities for our community.
The Countywide Trails Master Plan will guide future decision-making, funding allocation, and collaboration with various agencies and organizations involved in trail development. The Master Plan involves a detailed study of the county's existing trail systems, potential trail alignments, and connectivity opportunities. The planning team examines various factors such as land use patterns, population density, natural features, and community input to identify suitable locations for new trails and determine the most effective trail alignments. The plan also includes conceptual examples of wayfinding and branding to create trails system recognition and details the next steps for the County to move forward with implementation. Funding sources include local sales tax dollars from Special Purpose Local Option Sales Taxes (SPLOST), local recreation funds, transportation funds from the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC), grants, public-private partnerships, and other strategies.
Want to learn out Gwinnett Trails can support regional connectivity in Metro Atlanta? Click here to visit the interactive map and see how the Gwinnett Trails Master Plan was incorporated into the ARC’s Regional Trail Vision.Project Development Process
The Gwinnett Countywide Trails Master Plan team undertook a multi-step process designed to identify priorities and create a plan that presents a trails network to reflect the community vision. The planning team examined previous planning efforts and worked with the Project Team to identify an initial catalog of possible trail projects that was further refined into a shortlist of trails projects. The Project Team included representation from various Gwinnett County departments, cities, and Community Improvement Districts.
Following community outreach, the planning team revised the shortlist of projects and conducted a detailed costing for a subset of trail segments as well as developed high-level planning costs for all the segments on the list. The network was then constrained based on the financial feasibility of the proposed trails. The finalized list of prioritized trails composes the Countywide Trails Master Plan.
Funding and Policy Recommendations
Developing a Trails Master Plan is only the first step toward implementation— identifying funding needs for individual trail segment designs, acquiring right-of-way, and completing construction. Implementing a network of this magnitude will require the partnership of Gwinnett County, its cities and CIDs, and private and non-profit organizations.
The primary source of funding for the Trails Master Plan is the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST), allocated from DOT and Community Services. Although the Countywide Trails Master Plan has approximately $1 billion of trail projects based on expected SPLOST contributions, additional funding sources and partners must be identified to realize this trail implementation and fully accelerate its development. Local funding can be leveraged to secure federal funding, and Cities and CIDs can use SPLOST, capital budgets, or CID revenues to contribute towards the vision. Private and non-profit sponsorships and funding will also be critical implementation sources.