EASLEY – Easley’s bicycle and pedestrian master plan is now in the works as the city council members passed the plan at the Feb. 8 council meeting, and they hope to get Pickens officials on board with the plan.

Two actions are in process now – the Department of Transportation has begun stripping on roads for the plan and a letter requesting funding for the Greenwave plan for Bushy Creek trail has been sent out.

The Greenwave plan will link from downtown Easley to the JB Red Owens Sporting Complex and back to the Easley High School. The construction will effect some properties, but Christine DeVlaming of Vision 2025 Sense of Place said the property owners have been contacted and all seem “very interested in doing what they need to do” to help with the plan.

One of the difficult areas that will need the most construction is on the 123 bypass. DeVlaming said a tunnel would have to be made in order to use that section of the road.

“Our main goal right now is to get something on the ground for the citizens so they can see we are working on this plan,” DeVlaming said. “We are proud that the city has a plan. This is a long term process however.”

Vision 2025 Past Chairman Gerald Sweitzer said the group is in the process of getting the city of Pickens on board with the plan.

“We’ve started talking with them about joining in with this – we hope we can include a bike route from Easley to Pickens,” he said.

Eventually, the group’s hope is that the Easley and Pickens trails could tie in with the Hwy 11 trails that already exist.

“This is really coming together well,” Kent Dykes of the Easley Chamber and Sense of Place said. “This is a success story that will be good for everyone.”

The group also mentioned eventually linking the trails to Greenville.