Cochran leader hopes trail is path to better-connected city
By Tim Sturrock
MACON TELEGRAPH STAFF WRITER

COCHRAN - It doesn't take much imagination to see where a walking trail will be built in this town. Along some parts of trail site, your feet can feel the gravel remnants of a railroad bed. And because trees can scarcely penetrate that gravel, pine trees form walls along the sides, marking a clear path of grass and pine straw. Hardy Swinson, who heads the Cochran Better Hometown committee overseeing the trail, said that land is part of a one-mile path that should be paved by the end of next summer. Swinson said sidewalks outside of downtown are uncommon, and Cochran doesn't have a city park. Swinson said the Cochran Better Hometown group hopes to buy land from the railroad for the trail's first phase and break ground by the end of the year. "We're looking at this as a linear park," Swinson said. "It's a quality-of-life issue. It will enhance Cochran. It would support the family lifestyle in Cochran." His wife, Connie, said, "It was just a really good idea." Hardy Swinson said the first phase of the trail could be complete by summer if $140,000 in federal funding comes through this year. It will cost a total of $280,000 to complete both phases, which already have been approved by the Cochran City Council. The trail will start near the recreation center and the city's largest employer, Lithonia Lighting, he said. The trail will cross over a swamp and pass some industrial businesses to downtown, he said. "What's exciting about this is we're trying to take some of the worst parts of town and make them the best parts of town," Hardy Swinson said. A second phase would run parallel to a city-owned access road straight to Middle Georgia College and could be completed within a year, he said. Swinson said he would like to connect the path to an unpaved trail near the college. If that happens, Swinson said, the total trail would be 3.7 miles long. Not only would it make people healthier in Cochran, he said, but it also would make the town a more attractive place to live. Middle Georgia College President Richard Federinko said any improvements to the town will help attract students to the growing college. Middle Georgia College is expected to grow from a two-year to a four-year school in a few years. Right now, he said, there are about 900 students who live on campus and that number is expected to rise to more than 1,200. "I think if we could get students aware that this area is friendly to bikers and walkers, more of that activity will happen," he said. "I know I should be biking to work." Swinson said the trail, which would be called The Freedom Trail, also has an educational element. The trail's first phase is believed to be either on or near a path that runaway slaves took when they fled to Florida, he said. "What this is going to do is preserve some of the African-American heritage in the county," Swinson said. Sole Bleckley County Commissioner Mike Polsky said he brought concerns of residents who live near the trail to City Council earlier this year. But support for the trail has increased since then, he said. "I think anything that's good for the general welfare of the county is a good thing," he said. Gene Towns, Cochran's mayor-elect and a current city councilman, said because there are so few sidewalks in town, children have to walk along a highway to get to the city's recreation center. "Elderly people would exercise more if they had places to walk without fear of being hit by an automobile," he said. The trail would make people more interested in moving to town and could increase property values, Towns said. "To say it's going to create jobs and businesses, I don't know," he said, "but it certainly improves the image of the city."