Wilkinson County / Cities of Allentown, Gordon, Irwinton, Ivey, McIntyre and Toomsboro Bicycle and Pedestrian Planning
Wilkinson County, a rural county of 289,294 acres, has 2.2 percent of its land use divided among parks, recreation, and conservation. While currently there are no pedestrian trails and bicycle trails in place, the Wilkinson County Recreation Plan includes bicycle trails in the long-range planning periods to provide some connectivity to the cities. Gordon, Irwinton, and McIntyre all have a good network of sidewalks providing pedestrian walkways into the downtown areas.
As a part of Wilkinson County’s Comprehensive Plan, development patterns, for instance within its Rural Residential, Scenic Corridor, Gateway Corridor, and Town Center Character Areas, encourage walking between destinations and include facilities for bicycles, bike-ways or bike lanes, and storage racks. New developments are encouraged to contain a mix of uses especially near the downtown areas such that they are a close proximity to encourage walking between destinations.
Several interested communities and local leaders have made strides to develop the concept for a state park as part of the Balls Ferry Historic Site, which contains important Civil War and Native American history. Land has been acquired with use of a federal grant, and the Georgia DNR is considering a donation from the current owner to develop the area as a state park with multi-use paths/trails throughout the property. This is a joint-county project with multiple recreation facilities of historical and cultural significance.
Through funding assistance made available by the Georgia Department of Transportation in FY2009, the City of Gordon was able to prepare a Pedestrian Facility/Sidewalk Infrastructure Improvement Plan. This plan provides local officials with a guide for current and future sidewalk maintenance, as well as recommendations for expansion to major activity centers and neighborhoods not currently served by pedestrian facilities. You can view the plan by clicking on the following link: Gordon Sidewalk Plan.