DANDRIDGE, Tenn. (WATE) — This week, Dandridge leaders approved a $89,000 construction bid that will launch a brand new greenway walking trail project along Douglas Lake. The greenway walking trail is the latest addition to the town’s Waterfront Master Plan, a project aimed at boosting tourism and enhancing the community’s connection to the shoreline.
“I do expect people to get excited about that. There’s a lot of walkers here at 7:00 in the morning. There’s more walkers than there is traffic almost,” said Dandridge Mayor Mike Chambers.
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A new public dock was added in a previous phase. The next step: a half-mile gravel trail along the lake near the Dandridge Memorial Public Library. The trail is set to be around eight feet wide and will be a half-mile circle loop down and back. The idea dates back to 2012, developed with help from the East Tennessee Community Design Center.
“The concept came out of a plan when we had the Dandridge Community Trust, was active as a Tennessee main street community, and we paid a firm in Knoxville to come up and develop a whole streetscape project for downtown Dandridge, and that walkway along the lake was one of their ideas,” said Jefferson County Historian Bob Jarnagin.
After the trail is complete, the town hopes to add other amenities like seating and lighting for those walking, with the overall goal of promoting tourism.
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“It’s going to bring in more tourism, I hope, because Dandridge is a beautiful little town. You can go through here any day of the week and you’ll find people just kind of wandering around looking at the buildings,” Chambers said, “And that is just something added that they can do, because the backdrop for Dandridge is Douglas Lake. Then you got the English [Mountain] and then you got the Smoky Mountains. So you can’t buy a picture like this. It’s just a beautiful place to be and this is going to add to it.”…