Two-and-a-half years after receiving a state grant for construction of the Brian Brown Memorial Greenway, the city of Martin has yet to meet state and federal regulations for the project.

Martin City Recorder Chris Mathis says the greenway’s progress has been slowed by various Tennessee Department of Transportation regulations.

“We do what they (TDOT) ask, and they come up with another hoop for us to jump through,” Mathis says. “We want this thing done.”

Lisa Dunn, an Administrative Services Assistant for TDOT, says the department is not intentionally hindering the greenway’s progress, but simply making sure the project conforms to state and federal guidelines.

“We’re not particularly picking on them (the city), it’s just that everyone has to do it,” Dunn says.

TDOT awarded the $310,000 grant to the city in March 2004, which was followed by a flurry of fundraising activities by UTM and the city to raise the required 20 percent local match. The city contracted with the Jackson-based engineering firm TLM Associates, Inc. in May 2005 to design the greenway.

The greenway is currently being held back by a Federal Highway Administration regulation that requires the city to obtain a right-of-way easement for the section of UTM property that will be used for the project’s first phase, Dunn says.

A right-of-entry easement, which differs legally from a right-of-way easement and does not satisfy federal regulations, was unanimously approved in November 2004 by the UT Board of Trustees.

A right-of-way easement, which is permanent and would transfer ownership of the property from UT to the city, differs legally from a right-of-entry easement in that the latter would only authorize the city to build the greenway.

UT prefers not to issue right-of-way easements, which must be exact in terms of location, before greenways are completed because the projects must often be slightly relocated during construction. Instead, the right-of-entry easement approved by the Board will be reclassified as a right-of-way easement after the greenway is completed, according to UT Director of Real Estate Administration Robbie Stivers.

“The formal easement document will not be filed until the greenway is installed,” Stivers says.

Randy McKinnon, the project’s engineer at TLM Associates, is currently trying to resolve the easement issue with TDOT.

The greenway’s progress has also been slowed by the inability of the city and Norfolk Southern Corporation to reach an agreement for an easement of downtown railroad property. The greenway’s first phase has been redesigned as a result.

The first phase is now designed to run from the Southern Milling site on Lindell Street to the intersection of University Street and state Route 43.

After TDOT has approved the first phase, the city will solicit bids from contractors to build the greenway. The city will also need TDOT’s approval for construction of all subsequent phases. The greenway was first proposed in 1999 by Brian Brown, the former Director of Campus Recreation at UTM. Brown was killed in a bicycle accident in 2000.

“Hopefully, this greenway will carry on his memory and be a great addition to the town,” says Tim Johnston, president of the Brian Brown Greenway Foundation.