GASTON COUNTY, N.C. – Gaston County Parks and Recreation announced that it received a grant totaling $92,375 from Carolina Thread Trail (CTT). The organization’s Implementation Grant Program will support the construction of three sections of a trail totaling 1.3 miles through George Poston Park, from the South Fork River to the base of Spencer Mountain.
The Gaston County trail project is located off Lowell-Spencer Mountain Road on the Spencer Mountain Corridor. The three segments of the trail include the South Connector, the connection to the main Poston Park area, and the connection from Poston Park to the base of Spencer Mountain.
The County plans to work with the North Carolina Department of Transportation on the Lowell-Spencer Mountain Road crossing to make it more accessible, pedestrian friendly, and less car-dependent. The project will connect trails in a future park and neighborhood in the City of Lowell.
“It will also connect to the proposed trails on Spencer Mountain,” said Cathy Hart, director of Gaston County Parks and Recreation. “These connections to Poston Park will provide much-needed parking and restroom facilities for trail users along this trail corridor.”
The department has worked closely with the CTT and the City of Lowell, and the County portion of the project blends with future CTT plans along this corridor, as well as current and future projects in the City of Lowell.
Construction on the trails is anticipated to begin by September 2023.
###
About the Carolina Thread Trail Implementation Grant
The Carolina Thread Trail’s Implementation Grant Program provides funding to communities and nonprofit organizations to support projects in trail construction, design, land acquisition and corridor planning. Currently, over 370 miles of greenways and trails, as well as 170 miles of blueways, are open to the public within the Thread Trail system.