The remaining segments of the Spanish Moss Trail are finally coming together. The once dead-end trailhead at Ribaut Road is set to extend across and connect with the town of Port Royal.

Several folks told they’ve been ready for the expansion.

“Going all the way would be wonderful,” expressed Durenda Lovaz, who was cycling with her husband Mark when they stopped at the Ribaut Road trailhead’s dead end. “We started at Publix and made it all the way here. If we could continue to Sands Beach and pass by Fish Camp, it would be fantastic.”

Soon, the 100,000 individuals walking, biking, or riding the Spanish Moss Trail each year will have the opportunity to cross into Port Royal.

Following delays in previous years, the Friends of the Spanish Moss Trail, a non-profit committed to supporting the trail’s development, upkeep, and enhancement, announced that construction on the town’s extension will commence this month. 

The hope is that it will be completed by the end of this year.

“I am hopeful that by Christmas, I can walk and cycle along that section, using the trail to enter and exit Port Royal,” stated Dean Moss, Executive Director of the Friends of the Spanish Moss Trail.

The extension into Port Royal is part of a $1.3 million initiative funded by Beaufort County, which also encompasses plans to extend into downtown Beaufort.

The downtown Beaufort expansion will be an extension of the Depot Road trailhead. It will follow along Depot and also cross over Ribaut road at the main downtown entrance intersection (Bay Street).

That project is expected to start shortly after Port Royal and be finished by the spring of next year.

The planned Port Royal trail, which currently dead ends right at Ribaut Road, will eventually have a controlled pedestrian crosswalk across the busy road.

Moss said it is similar to the crossing on Robert Smalls Parkway, where you press a button and a light stops traffic for pedestrians to safely cross.

In the center of Ribaut Road, there will be a safety zone, which will be protected on both ends by concrete.

“So, if you are crossing and something happens and you need a place to sit or wait, there will be a button there which will enable you to reactivate the stop sign,” said Moss.” So, we’re confident that that will be safe.”

Moss explained that the traffic in the area of the future crossing does move quickly, but they believe that most people traveling the road are passing through daily and will become used to the crossing.

He said it will be just like the one on Robert Smalls Parkway, which functions properly to stop traffic and let pedestrians walk through.

Several pedestrians who were on the trail today said they were looking forward to branching into the new part of trail into Port Royal.

“Were excited,” said Darby James, who walks her dog frequently on the trail.

James also said her family has been looking forward to it. Her sons learned to ride their bike on the trail, and her husband, who is an avid cyclist, rides the trail often.

“We enjoy it every day honestly. It’s a big part of our life, and the beauty of living in Beaufort,” said James. “We’re all excited about the fact that to go to Port Royal, it would no longer include crossing at either Paris Avenue, or across the busy road.”

The trail will travel down about a quarter mile after Ribaut Road onto a paved driveway path off Ritters Circle in Port Royal.

“Wherever they want to go in Port Royal, it’ll be easy to get there and safe.  So that’s our objective right now.  Extending the trail beyond the driveway is a project for the future.”

Plans eventually include continuing the trail all the way down to Sand’s Beach, but Moss said he’s unsure when that will happen.

“We can’t do it until the property owners for all this area decide what they’re going to do. Now, they have assured us that the presence of the trail is important to them. So, once they’ve decided how they wish to develop that, there will be a trail alignment as part of that plan and we’ll be able to get started with the town to build that section beyond.”