Fewer than 10 properties will be needed to make way for a new trail along Commerce Drive, Arvin Drive and Eastview Drive in Franklin.
The city has started conversations with eight or nine business owners to get about 5 acres of land, city engineer Travis Underhill said. The new three-mile stretch of trail will start at King Street and Eastview Drive and run to the intersection of U.S. 31 and Commerce Drive, connecting with an existing trail around Franklin Community High School.
Buying the land will cost the city less than $225,000, Underhill said.
The new trail is expected to be done by the end of 2016 and will cost a total of $2.2 million to construct, city officials have said.
In the future, the city’s goal is to connect all trails around Franklin.
