POINT CLEAR — When it comes right down to it, a proposed building project’s cost often determines if it can be done, how it will look and whether it will serve its purpose when complete. That’s why the Baldwin County Trailblazers gathered Thursday night, July 26, to discuss what type surface will be used to build a one-mile section of the Eastern Shore Trail along Scenic 98, from the Grand Hotel Marriott Resort, Golf Club and Spa’s southern edge to County Road 32.

Alabama Gov. Bob Riley’s office recently confirmed that a $674,315 federal transportation enhancement grant to pay for the project has been approved. Twenty percent of the total estimated project cost will be covered by the county under a required match. They will also assume all upfront costs, which will then be reimbursed by the Alabama Department of Transportation using the grant money.

But, the funding is around $200,000 shy of what is needed to use the favored concrete on what promises to be the most challenging part of the trail engineered so far.

“In looking back on some of the trail we’ve done in the past, this part is three times the cost of any we’ve done in the past,” said Terry Redfearn, Trailblazers president.

The project blueprint alone, drawn by Houston, Texas-based Wilbur Smith Engineering, cost $100,000.

Redfearn said, “There are other things that are going to have to take place before we start. Asphalt or concrete? We’ve got the trail quoted using both.”

He noted that Vince Beebe, a design engineer with the Baldwin County Highway Department, told him there will be some concrete used, even if the group chooses to use asphalt most of the way. That’s because at each point the trail passes a residence with a concrete driveway, the more durable surface must link the driveway to the street.

Also, existing ditches and culverts will need to be replaced with pipes, culverts and junction boxes that are expected to actually improve drainage along the route.

Beebe said time is of the essence as group members have about a month to decide what material they would like to use.

The Trailblazers leadership acknowledges $200,000 might not be enough at the offset because the working quotes were obtained in September of 2006, and the price of concrete is increasing.

Teko Wiseman, who served as volunteer Trailblazers coordinator until Mike McPherson was recently hired as the organization’s first executive director, said the 2.5-mile Jill Hall Aerobic Trail from Fairhope to the Grand Hotel was refurbished using asphalt (its original surface) for around $100,000.

Asphalt is already proven and would certainly be a suitable surface, according to Redfearn.

“The quality should be good,” he said. It’s a good surface for walking.”

Noting some Trailblazers would prefer the remainder of the trail be paved with concrete, Redfearn added, “This is something beyond our scope now, but we can go to concrete if the money is raised. If anyone wants it to be concrete, has a passion for it and wants to go out and raise the funds, the Trailblazers will support you.”

The organization sent out a notification about the meeting to residents living along the proposed route, but only a couple of them attended. It’s hoped the rest will send in their comments about material preference before it’s too late to consider their input.

Redfearn said, “If there’s a move afoot to change from asphalt to concrete, it’s going to have to be done quickly.”

He pointed out county engineers hope to begin work on the final project plans as early as September, and they should have them ready in January or February. It is expected to cost around $70,000 to update the plans depending on a final decision on materials.

Project bids will likely be taken in the late spring of 2008, and construction could begin next July.

“The two-year clock begins when final agreement is signed by the governor and the county,” Beebe said. That means the county and its contractors will have that long to complete this section of the trail and turn in the bills for reimbursement.

Wiseman said the timetable should be no problem, reminding the group the McDuff Trail through Montrose was built in four months, and the project included two steel-span bridges and a wooden boardwalk.

The latest Trailblazers project will move the group another step closer to completing the 33-mile Eastern Shore Trail, which begins at USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile.

All that would remain to be built is a section stretching from the Scenic 98/County Road 1 interchange to the Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, that would parallel U.S. 98. Organizers say the trail will one day cross Fish River and link to trails in other parts of the county.

For more information about membership in the group and ways to get involved, visit www.thetrailblazers.org, or call (251) 621-0454.