The Ocmulgee Heritage Trail could be expanding again.
Macon-Bibb County is expected to take over 245 acres that may extend the popular recreational path even further north. The land stretches along the west bank of the Ocmulgee River near Amerson River Park.
The prospect is exciting to Vaylor Brown and Morgan Hogan, Macon residents who walk three miles daily with their 2-year-old sons along the trail.
“Instead of having to go in 50 directions, we could maybe loop around in a circle,” Hogan said.
The County Commission is expected to vote Tuesday to accept the land from the Georgia Department of Transportation. There’s work still being done to get ready for a two-mile trail extension — bringing the trail to 11 miles — that was first announced in the fall of 2016.
There is a small privately-owned tract of property separating Amerson and the 245 acres. The edge of the acreage nearly extends to River Place Drive, Mayor Robert Reichert said.
“The Ocmulgee Heritage Trail folks are very interested in trying to use it for the extension, assuming they can get through or across (the private property),” he said this week. “The DOT has said it’s for passive use, and there’s no cost for us to acquire.”
There are no set plans for how the new property would be developed as part of the trail, but receiving the land is a coup for the county, said Chris Floore, assistant to the county manager for public affairs.
“This is above and beyond what we’ve been planning the last couple of years,” he said. “This is exciting. That many miles along the trail ... is amazing.”
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