PORT ROYAL, S.C. () — The last few pieces of the Spanish Moss Trail puzzle are coming together. The dead-end trailhead off Ribaut Road will soon reach across the road and connect into the town of Port Royal.

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

“It’d be great to go all the way,” said Durenda Lovaz, who was taking a bike ride with her husband Mark, when they came to the dead end at the Ribaut Road trailhead. “We parked at Publix and came all the way down here. If we could get over to, like Sands Beach, go by Fish Camp, that would be great.”

That’s exactly what the 100,000 yearly pedestrians walking, biking or riding down the Spanish moss trail will soon be able to do – cross into the Town of Port Royal.

After a halt in previous years, the Friends of the Spanish Moss Trail, a non-profit dedicated to advocating for the development, maintenance and enhancement of the trail, said construction on the extension into the town will start this month.  

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

“I’m optimistic that by Christmas, I will be walking and riding my bike along that section and going in and out of Port Royal on the trail,” said Dean Moss, the Executive Director of the Friends of the Spanish Moss Trail organization.

The Port Royal expansion is a part of a $1.3 million project funded by Beaufort County, which also includes plans for an expansion 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.”