Plans are in the works for the construction of a 14-mile pathway that will connect Riverside Park to Columbus Air Force Base.
State Rep. Jeff Smith (D-Columbus) told The Dispatch on Thursday he will sponsor a bill that would provide funds to build multi-use paths that connect the park and Air Force base. Smith, who chairs the House ways and means committee, said he is drafting a bill to authorize issuing up to $25 million in bonds for the project over five years. He expects to file the bill next week.
“I suspect there will be a way to get federal and local funding for the project, as well,” he said. “But this needs to be done. If the state has to step up and fully fund it, we will.”
Columbus Mayor Robert Smith said the project would add 14 miles to the existing multi-use track at Riverside Park, bringing the total length to 16.2 miles. He said it would include three separate, parallel tracks — for walking, jogging and bicycling — and pass through the Lock and Dam area, Dwayne Hayes Park and connect to the Air Force base at old Highway 373. Exercise and play areas will be intermittently placed along the trail, the mayor said.
“It shows the great partnership the city has with the Columbus Air Force Base for us to work together on this,” Mayor Smith said. “It also shows that the city and Columbus Air Force Base are committed to increasing the quality of life in this area.”
Enhancing quality of life in Columbus and Lowndes County could prove critical to the Air Force base’s survival, Rep. Smith said. The base has already survived three closure scares from the federal government, he said, with the Base Realignment and Closure Commission citing quality of life as one of the base’s two major deficiencies. The other deficiency is a densely-wooded area north of Columbus that weakens radar strength around the base.
“One of those, we can’t do anything about,” Rep. Smith said. “But quality of life, we can.”
The city has already provided water and sewer service to the base to improve quality of life, and since 2008 residential base employees have been allowed to send their children to the public school of their choice. Also, a partnership between the city, Air Force base and Lowndes County is bringing a $1 million-plus small arms firing range to the old Maxim Medical building in East Columbus. The range is set to open as early as next month.
Rep. Smith said increased recreational opportunities for base employees could further secure the base’s future.
“People won’t have to go elsewhere for those things,” he said. “So this is a way not only for Columbus to show community support for the base, but it’s also a way to help keep the Department of Defense of (the base’s) back.”
Col. John Nichols, 14th Flying Training Wing commander at Columbus Air Force Base, said he’s excited to see the project come closer to fruition.
“The Riverwalk extension will provide another concrete symbol of the connection between the Columbus community and the base,” Nichols said. “This nearly 20-mile trail not only provides a fantastic fitness opportunity for our airmen, but it will also be an additional reason to visit to Columbus.”
Once the bill is filed it must clear the ways and means committee before going to House floor. Rep. Smith said he believes the House will approve the bill, which will leave it needing Senate approval and Gov. Phil Bryant’s signature to become law. All revenue bills, Rep. Smith said, must clear the House by the third week of February. Then the Senate will only have a month to act.
Though the representative said the legislature, and specifically the committee he chairs, is the “vehicle the project must go through” to become reality, he fully credits the Columbus mayor and leadership at the Air Force base for developing the plan.
“I think this is a wonderful idea,” he said. “I hope we can get it done.”
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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