The city of Carrollton is still waiting for final Georgia Department of Transportation approval before it can move forward on the 13-mile greenbelt project, but city officials say the OK could come any day.

The Carrollton Board of Education voted four months ago to grant the city an easement to traverse the school system’s property, effectively giving its permission for the city to move forward with Phase I work on the greenbelt. While the city is ready to begin the work, red tape at the state level has delayed DOT approval — the last hurdle that must be overcome before project can begin.

City Manager Casey Coleman said it’s been frustrating waiting for the final OK from the state. There’s a chance it might come as soon as this week, he said, but there’s really no way of knowing.

“We’re still waiting, and we’ve been waiting,” Coleman said. “I really don’t know when it’s coming, though I tend to believe that an answer could come any day, possibly very shortly. But until that answer comes we can’t move forward.”

More than $2 million has been raised for the project, which is scheduled to eventually provide a circuitous route around the city for cyclists and walkers.

The city was awarded grants two years ago from the DOT toward the first phase of the project, a roughly 1-mile stretch beginning at Hay’s Mill Road and following Buffalo Creek to Ben Scott Boulevard beside Carrollton Middle School, then running parallel with the road up to Tom Reeve Drive, ending in front of Carrollton Junior High.

In May 2008, the Alice H. Richards Foundation granted the project $1 million toward the second phase of the project, which will add another 5 miles ending at Lake Carroll. The city accepted a piece of land from Southwire for Phase II of the project in December of that year.

Coleman said that although it has been a long time coming, the greenbelt will provide a valuable service for city residents, connecting schools, neighborhoods and commercial areas, and allowing residents to travel basically anywhere around the city without having to set foot in a car.

“You’d be able to get on at any part of city and go to any other place in the city by biking and walking. It’s going to connect people,” Coleman said. “It’s just a good thing, but getting there has been somewhat difficult.”

City Councilman Mike Patterson said the trail will also do much to attract tourists to Carrollton, and the council should do everything it can to attract tourist dollars, especially in such tight economic times.

“It’s a draw for the city in a lot of different ways. It’s just a good tourist draw,” Patterson said. “Anytime you’ve got something that will bring people into town, that’s important, and it’s not going to be terribly expensive. It’s just such a great thing.”