The Villa Rica City Council recently approved a master plan for the City’s new Gold Nugget Trail. The massive 22.6-mile trail will be a pedestrian and bicycle path that will connect all of Villa Rica’s parks and other landmarks.
Construction on the project is estimated to begin as early as the spring of 2019 and will cost more than $20 million.
City officials have said that Villa Rica hopes to experience the same kind of success that the Greenbelt has brought to Carrollton. The project is expected to cost $20 million, and taxpayer funding is expected to be limited to matching that of private donations.
The Gold Nugget Trail’s master plan shows the trail heading west from Gold Dust Park through Fullerville where it will then travel through downtown Villa Rica. The trail is expected to connect with Connor’s Road Park, which is expected to be built in the near future, and also stretch into the Mirror Lake area.
The proposed plan currently shows the trail splitting as it travels southward with the western leg passing over Interstate 20 on Daniel Road and continuing on through South Carroll Road. The eastern leg would cross Interstate 20 at Tyson Road before heading through the Ashbury subdivision.
The trail would then reconnect both legs and continue southward to the Villa Rica V-Plex.
According to the master plan, the overall project could be funded from a number of entities, including state funding, private donations, and taxpayer dollars.
The trail would be built in portions over a period of time, with the first segments being started in 2018 or 2019 at Old Stone Road or Old Town Road. The master plan indicates that the trail portion near Fullerville would likely be next to be built, around 2020. The Mirror Lake section is expected to begin in 2021, and the final portion of the trail from Cleghorn Park to Old Stone Road would be the built in 2023.
