By Lela Garlington - The Commercial Appeal -

Due to recent rains and a couple of snowfalls, parts of the new greenway is still wet or full of ruts along the Wolf River bottoms that run parallel to Humphreys Boulevard in Memphis.

Dried mud covers the heavy equipment parked along the unfinished one-mile section of the Wolf River Greenway.

But if the weather cooperates, the Wolf River Greenway in Memphis will connect to the Germantown Greenway this summer -- making it the first time two cities will be joined in Shelby County with an off-road paved trail for joggers, walkers and bicyclists.

The Germantown Board of Mayor and Aldermen is expected to vote on a contract for its greenway portion tonight. Wagner Construction is the low bidder at $107,351.

That price includes an elevated boardwalk and is slightly more than the $99,000 that Germantown had set aside. If approved, the extra cost would pay for widening a part of the existing trail from 6 to 10 feet.

Wagner also has the contract for the $1.6 million one-mile Memphis Greenway section that will include 90-foot and 112-foot bridges crossing the channels leading to the Wolf River, but no additional parking on the site.

Once the two projects meet and are open, residents will be able to travel close to five miles along the Wolf River and then continue on the paved trails from the pedestrian bridge leading to the 6.5-mile Shelby Farms Greenline. The greenline follows a straight path from Shelby Farms to Tillman in Binghamton along the old CSX Railroad bed.

Early in the budget process, Germantown Alderman Greg Marcom and others successfully sought to have the city's greenway section included in the 2012 budget. Marcom supports the project, including the extra cost.

"We felt like it was necessary to keep the trails as dry as possible with the elevated boardwalk and to allow emergency vehicle access on the trail," he said.

When Memphis officials broke ground on the city's greenway portion in October near Shady Grove and Humphreys Boulevard, they predicted a late spring or early summer opening. Now they say the two will connect this summer.

Weather is playing a part in the slight delay.

"We are keeping our fingers crossed that there will be no flooding in May," said Mike Flowers, planning and development administrator with Memphis Park Services.

But because the trail's elevation is about the same as the river, he added, "It is staying wetter longer, and it's not drying out as fast."

Allen Wagner, president of Wagner Construction, said that for the past several months, "when it rains, it rains buckets. It's making it more difficult for the workers to keep working."

Wagner's project superintendent, Allen Poff, watches the weather forecast before he heads off to work.

"If the ground freezes, it's almost worse than a rain," he said.

There are some bonuses to Poff's job: Early one morning, for instance, he watched a battle between two bucks with large antlers. Another time, he counted 15 deer file by one at a time.

"It's awesome," he said. "It's almost indescribable."

At the day's end, Poff heads to two motion-sensitive digital cameras he has installed along the trails and downloads them to his computer.

Once the greenway is finished, Poff predicted, he won't be alone in seeing deer, coyotes or foxes. "For nature people, it's going to be a real treat."

-- Lela Garlington: (901) 529-2349