Ecusta Trail
CURRENT STATUS
The Ecusta Trail remains closed to the public at this time as Hurricane Helene-related repairs are underway. Phase 1, 6-miles of the trail spanning from Downtown Hendersonville to Horse Shoe, is expected to open in Spring of 2025.
BACKGROUND
The Ecusta Trail is federally railbanked. Railbanking, established in 1983 as an amendment to Section 8(d) of the National Trails System Act, is a voluntary agreement between a railroad company and a trail sponsor (such as a trail organization or government agency) to use an out-of-service rail corridor as a trail until a railroad might need the corridor again for rail service. This interim trail use of railbanked corridors has preserved thousands of miles of rail corridors that would otherwise have been abandoned (Source: Rails to Trails Conservancy).
In an effort that initially started in 2008, Henderson County purchased approximately 19 miles of rail corridor from King Street in Hendersonville to Carr Lumbar Company Rd in Brevard on Thursday, August 12, 2021. This section of rail, named Ecusta Rail due to its former use by the Ecusta Paper Mill in Brevard, is federally railbanked and will be converted into a public, multi-use trail. We anticipate questions about this project. Please follow this link for FAQs, trail etiquette, and history!
The County is very respectful of local property rights along the trail. Designing and constructing the trail will be a public process between the County, the Municipalities through which the trail will go, and the citizens. The public will be invited to participate in the final design. The County is very mindful of the fact that this trail will encourage visitors to come to a unique public park and experience the quality of life that we all enjoy. The benefits to our local economy will be realized in many ways.
IMPORTANT MILESTONES
February 2024: Federal funding released for Phase II preliminary engineering. NCDOT will review JMT's submitted scope of work and then the engineering firm can begin work on designing the last five miles of the trail in Henderson County.
January 2024: Clearing and tree-cutting finished. Work began on removing and replacing old culverts and other drainage devices.
December 2023: Construction began on the first six miles of the trail. NHM Constructors and their subcontractors will be working on the trail until 2025.
November 2023: NHM Constructors Inc. was awarded the construction contract for the first six miles of the trail after being proven as the lowest, most responsive bidder. JMT was also selected to design and engineer the remaining five miles of trail known as Phase II.
June/July 2023: Henderson County and the City of Brevard received a windfall from both the RAISE and NSFLTP federal grants. NCDOT will be managing the grants and working with the federal entities to see how the money can be spent. This process, including signing a grant agreement, is expected to take at least 8 months to a year.
January 2023: The Henderson County Rail Trail Advisory Committee met and unanimously approved the 90% designs submitted by Vaughn & Melton. Click here to review the designs.
Fall 2022: Henderson County's contractor, Vaughn & Melton, rolled out the Ecusta Trail 30% design. You can view it and other design information on the Trail Storymap. Click here.
June 2022: Henderson County secured a $10.4 million grant for the construction of the remaining portion of the trail from the US64/Battle Creek Rd intersection west to the County line!
May 2022: Ecusta Trail Storymap went live! CLICK HERE to view the most up-to-date information on the trail's design and construction.
March 2022: Henderson County directed Vaughn & Melton to begin preliminary engineering.
November 2021: Henderson County Board of Commissioners voted to accept staff's recommendation and hire Vaughn & Melton Engineering to conduct the preliminary engineering for phases 1 - 3.
August 2021: Conserving Carolina successfully purchased 19 miles of the Ecusta rail corridor from Watco. The line extends from King Street in Hendersonville to Carr Lumber Company Rd. in Brevard.
June 2021: The Federal Surface Transportation Board railbanked the Ecusta rail corridor, which preserves the corridor in whole in the event another rail line purchases the corridor for rail use in the future.
August 2020: Henderson County received $5,075,219 in STBG-DA grant funding for the engineering and construction of the first three phases of the Ecusta Trail. These sections span from Kanuga Rd. in Hendersonville to Battle Creek Rd. in Horse Shoe. Preliminary engineering is expected to begin in October 2021 or as soon as the grant funding becomes available.
May 2020: Henderson County applied for over $14.5 million in STBG-DA grant funding for the engineering and construction of the Henderson County portion of the trail. The County will know if their application is accepted in late August or September.
August 2019: North Carolina House Rep. Chuck McGrady, Conserving Carolina, and Friends of the Ecusta Trail are pleased to announce that Conserving Carolina was awarded a $6.4 Million grant for the purchase of the rail corridor known as the TR Line or Proposed Ecusta Trail.
