Wellston Trail Greenway - City of Warner Robins

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Wellston Trail Greenway

Greenway Moving Forward

The Bay Gall Creek Greenway is slowly taking shape near the center of town.

City public works crews have cleared and leveled about one mile of the trail’s first phase and may add gravel and pavement within a few weeks - if the weather holds. “Every time it rains we’re out of luck,” said Joe Musselwhite, the city’s public works director.

Musselwhite’s crews began work on the trail in recent weeks but have been hindered by wet weather. That’s because the greenway is in a flood plain and gets soggy when it rains, so it can take days to dry out.

What they’re building is phase one of the Bay Gall Creek Greenway, a 10-food wide paved trail for walking, running and biking that may someday stretch completely across Warner Robins.

Plans for the greenway emerged in 1997, with local officials wanting to develop the existing Bay Gall Creek bed region into an attractive area for people to stretch their legs or have a picnic. Bay Gall Creek’s bed, which is actually dry except after heavy rains, spans from north of Centerville southeast to the Ocmulgee River.

Phase one of the greenway includes a section of trail barely more than one mile long, which runs between Fountain Park on Kimberly Road and a planned trailhead at Corder Road near the intersection of Peacock Drive, southwest of Houston Mall.

Phase one cuts between residential neighborhoods in a wooded region rarely thought of in this city of strip malls and traffic jams.

“It really is going to be beautiful, and we’re lucky here that it is so nice so we don’t have do anything with it,” said Willice Walters, executive director of Keep Warner Robins Beautiful. “On a sunny day, I can’t think of a better place to go.”

The trail has been cleared and leveled from Fountain Park to Belaire Drive. From there, Walters said the route will turn north and follow Belaire until it crosses Woodland Drive and Spruce Street before meeting the trailhead at Corder Road.

Musselwhite wouldn’t commit to any timetable for finishing the trail or the trailhead because, he said, the work depends on the weather and how often his workers are needed for other, more pressing projects.

When finished, the trailhead at Corder will include parking, restrooms and large picnic pavilions with grills. Walters said the location would be ideal for family picnics or even a large family reunion.

Plans also call for benches and picnic tables throughout the trail, especially in the area between Woodland and Spruce, which is a large, open space.

“This area from Woodland to Spruce is probably one of the prettiest, most natural parts of this phase,” Walters said.

Once completed, Walters hopes community response to the trail will build momentum for construction of phase two, though she has no idea how long that might take.

Phase two includes 34 acres north of Watson Boulevard off of Olympia Drive that was donated to the city several years ago. Another planned section would take the trail southeast from Fountain Park to Moody Road.

Until then, Walters said phase one will give residents a place they’ve never had before to escape the stresses of everyday life.

“This is the centerpiece, what we’re doing right now,” she said.

- To contact Charlie Lanter, call 923-6199, extension 307 or e-mail clanter@macontel.com.

HISTORY

In 1998, at the request of the Mayor and City Council, Keep Warner Robins Beautiful organized a committee of volunteers to explore the feasibility of developing a greenway along Bay Gall Creek. The committee determined that a greenway was not only feasible, but would also complement the quality of life of all citizens. The committee held public informational meetings with people owning property near Bay Gall Creek, gave educational presentations to various organizations, and secured promises of community support, in-kind services and volunteers for developing the greenway. During the meantime, University of Georgia environmental design students, Eric Thrift and Casey Paulk, working with the KWRB, developed architectural plans for Phase I - Bay Gall Creek from Corder Road to Kimberly Drive. After the plans were developed, application was made to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources for a grant of $100,000 for constructing an asphalt, non-motorized trail and a wooden footbridge. The grant was approved.

Bay Gall Creek Greenway now has a new name. In a resolution approved by the Mayor and City Council on February 19, 2002, the greenway's name was changed to Wellston Trail. This change was made to enhance the rich heritage of the city of Warner Robins. Wellston was the city's original name. Its citizens found their lifestyle changed when in the early 1940s, this small town was chosen as the site of an Army Air Corps maintenance and supply depot. Later, the town of Wellston changed its name to match the military base destined to become a major part of the community.

Recently, the trail was given a tremendous boost when the Anne Greer family donated about eight acres of land along Bay Gall Creek to the city. It will become a part of Phase I. This generous gift will make Wellston Trail possible. Mr. Charlie McGlamry's and Mr. Mark Bayer's splendid gift of about 30 acres of pristine land located on the north side of Watson Boulevard will make Phase II possible. We are most grateful for these gifts made by community-minded citizens. Development and construction of a greenway takes time. We are anxious for it to become a reality and we are pleased that construction has begun.

The Greenway has been in development since 1997 and has no strict timetable. A $125,000 Department of Natural Resources grant and state green space funds are paying for the project. The city is contributing by performing much of the site work on the trail.