Local leaders in Wilkes County are a step closer to building a pedestrian bridge that will link two neighboring communities.
The project is known as “Bridge the Boros,” namely, Wilkesboro and North Wilkesboro.
Andrew Carlton, planning and community development director for Wilkesboro, says a nearly half-million-dollar grant from the Great Trails State Program will jumpstart a greenway improvement plan.
It will include a pedestrian bridge over the Yadkin River.
He says the crossing, near the confluence of Cub Creek, will improve connectivity.
“We're getting closer by the day of almost any neighborhood in the two municipalities being able to hop on a sidewalk, make it to a greenway, and get to a quality of life, active-living rec asset, and not have to get in a car and drive around,” he says.
Both towns are part of an outdoor economy working group led by the Wilkes Health Foundation.
Carlton says the grant pays for planning and designing the bridge, but not building it. He hopes construction will begin in 2027.
Eight other High Country projects also received funding, ranging from $150,000 to half a million dollars. They include a new greenway in Alleghany County, expansion of the Virginia Creeper Trail in Lansing and improvements to the Glen Burney Trail in Blowing Rock.