This photograph and drawing depicts the improvements the city of Athens would create at the Swan Creek Greenway with a $200,000 grant from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs.

Athens has landed a $200,000 state grant that city officials will use to create a new trailhead and parking lot for the Swan Creek Greenway, a national recreation trail.

The $200,000 grant from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs was announced publicly Wednesday by state Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, who received an email about it from ADECA’s Lisa Milliman.

The Richard Martin Rails-To-Trails in Limestone County has also received an ADECA grant for $128,000, which the Limestone County Commission will use to repair two bridges, construct and install two interpretive signs, correct trail erosion and conduct a trail assessment of the trail.

Holly Hollman, grant coordinator and communications specialist for the city of Athens, said the improvements to greenway would make access to the 2.3-mile trail more convenient. It would also extend the trail 1,200 linear feet.

Currently, residents accessing the trail near U.S. 72 do so by parking on an access road near the Lowe’s parking lot. However, when it rains, this road becomes muddy and ruts form, Hollman said. With the grant, the city could buy property near Railroad Bizarre and build a gravel trailhead with parking under the bridge and as close as possible to Railroad Bizarre, she said. Another problem with the current access road is that it does not belong to the city, Hollman said.

The Swan Creek Greenway goes by Athens High School and on to the Sportsplex on U.S. 31. Along the way, users can see a covered bridge, a couple of wooden bridges that span some wetlands and the creek, she said.

In the future, the city hopes to link the Swan Creek Greenway with the Richard Martin Rails-to-Trails recreational trail in Limestone County, Hollman said. The city would extend its trail from the Sportsplex on U.S. 31, and Rails-to-Trails would extend its route south from Piney Chapel until the two connect. “Then we would have a trail from U.S. 72 all the way to the Tennessee Line,” Hollman said.

The city received assistance with its grant application from Terry Acuff, a consultant who does grant applications for various communities, she said. State Rep. Danny Crawford, R-Athens, privately notified Mayor Ronnie Marks of the award two weeks ago.

Richard Martin was on the review committee, she said.

The total projected cost of the project will be $250,000. The city will have to pay a 20-percent match, or about $50,000, to obtain the $200,000 grant from ADECA, Hollman said.