Walking, Biking, Kayaking Through Mobile

The Business View – June 2018 / News You Can Use

A 10-mile walking and biking trail alongside a creek enjoyed by kayakers and canoers would mean family activities, neighborhood conversations, economic growth and the mark of a 21st century community.

After years of planning, a new public-private partnership and recent funding, development of the 19,000 acres around the Three Mile Creek watershed is on its way to fruition.

3MC Partnership, short for Three Mile Creek Partnership, is a recently formed coalition of volunteers who are collaborating with the City of Mobile and private sector stake holders in support of the creek’s trail and amenities, efforts to environmentally restore its waters and efforts to spur accompanying neighborhood renewal and economic development. It is a program of the Mobile Area Chamber Foundation.

The project gained traction after a Chamber-sponsored Leaders Exchange to St. Louis, in 2014 and again in 2016 when visiting Greenville, S.C.

“A project of this size and scope requires cooperative relationships.

While the role of 3MC Partnership is evolving, the nonprofit is expected to provide public and private sector leadership in facilitating, planning, fundraising and implementing the project while engaging and unifying the community,” said Mike Rogers with Rogers and Willard, who chairs the partnership.

From the University of South Alabama wetlands to Langan Park to downtown Mobile to the Mobile River, the 10-mile walking and biking trail has the potential to connect roughly 70,000 people and 1,000 businesses located within one mile of the creek.

“This project enhances what Mobile has to offer, and will only make it easier to attract new businesses and the employees they need, while improving the quality of life for us all,” said Bill Sisson, the Mobile Area Chamber’s president and CEO, who serves on the 3MC leadership team.

The Three Mile Creek trail is designed in seven segments with plans to complete most of it by 2021. The City of Mobile, with the help of multiple funding sources, completed a one-mile segment in 2017 that runs along the north side of the creek at Tricentennial Park, located near the intersection of Stanton Road and Bragg Avenue.

The city is recruiting bids for an amenity package that would add a fitness zone, benches, drinking fountain, signage and more to the area.

Funding the design and engineering for four additional segments, the city received a significant boost for the project in March when its request for RESTORE Act funds was awarded $9.7 million for construction of the trail and another $11.8 million for Three Mile Creek restoration; and the Alabama Department of Transportation awarded more than $500K to the city to extend the greenway.

To keep up with the progress of the project and learn how to get involved with 3MC, visit www.3milecreek.org.

Click here to read The Business View – June 2018

Additional information is on the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce’s website at www.mobilechamber.com, on Facebook at @MobileChamber and Twitter at @MobileChamber.