ABOUT US
3MC Partnership is a coalition of volunteers working to bring people together around the vision of creating a transformational corridor of renewal in the Three Mile Creek watershed in Mobile, AL.
We work with the City of Mobile and private sector stakeholders to support the development of the Mobile Greenway Trail and
amenities, neighborhood renewal and development in the Three Mile Creek corridor, and the creation of a more usable waterway through the environmental restoration of Three Mile Creek.
ABOUT US
OUR VISION
OUR LEADERSHIP
OUR PARTNERS
To create a transformational corridor of renewal in the Three Mile Creek watershed.
Mike Rogers, Chairman
Warren Greene, Vice Chairman
Raymond Bell, At Large
Jacquitta Powell Green, At Large
Chris Lee, At Large
Bill Sisson, At Large
Sarah Stashak, Fundraising
Roberta Swann, Watershed Restoration
3MC Partnership operates as a 501(c)(3) under the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce's Foundation. Our partners include the City of Mobile and all stakeholders involved in the development of the Three Mile Creek trail and watershed. Learn more.
ABOUT 3MC
There is a waterway that connects the city’s largest university to downtown Mobile. It begins at the wetland ponds on the campus of the University of South Alabama and flows south into Langan Park. From the Langan Park Lake, Three Mile Creek flows south winding its way through neighborhoods, commercial districts, and natural landscape to downtown Mobile, the Mobile River, and eventually into Mobile Bay.
Fun Facts About Three Mile Creek and Mobile Greenway Trail
Six city parks will connect to the Mobile Greenway Trail
About 1,000 businesses operate within a mile of the creek and trail, including three major medical facilities and one university
French settlers created homesteads along the banks and bayous of Bayou Chateauguay just north of Fort Conde as the City of Mobile expanded in the 18th century. Bayou Chateauguay is the eastern end of what we now know as Three Mile Creek.
Three Mile Creek was the source of Mobile’s water supply until the 1940s
The City of Mobile’s Geenway Trail plan includes 10 miles of new continuous concrete trail
About 1,000 businesses operate within a mile of the creek and trail, including three major medical facilities and one university
3MC PARTNERSHIP MISSION
Build a 10 mile walking and biking trail along the waterway from University of South Alabama to downtown Mobile
Renew the Three Mile Creek urban waterway
Create fishing, kayaking, birding and other recreational opportunities
Capitalize on economic opportunities through planning and collaboration
Build community ownership through authentic engagement with community stakeholders
Make the project a tangible representation to future generations of accomplishments gained by bringing people together
Collaborate with public and private sector partners to ensure success
Three Mile Creek
The profile of Three Mile Creek changes from the western head of the stream where ravine banks seem to reach three stories high to the eastern confluence with the Mobile River where the creek expands to expose a delta landscape set against the backdrop of the downtown cityscape. This unique urban waterway will one day provide a natural corridor for people to move about from USA to downtown Mobile.
Mobile Greenway Trail and Waterway Corridor
Greenway trails are promoting economic growth and connecting people in new ways. Cities like Chattanooga, Raleigh, and Atlanta are seeing the transformational impact of trail systems on their communities as people walk and bike to work or for recreation. Unlike greenway trails fragmented by structural obstacles, Mobile’s 10 -mile trail will follow the path of Three Mile Creek potentially creating a continuous corridor for people to explore new areas and travel away from the car. The trail will be complemented by an environmentally renewed Three Mile Creek creating recreational opportunities on the waterway such as kayaking and canoeing.
A Transformational Project
With good planning and determined, cooperative public and private sector partnerships, the Three Mile Creek project is an opportunity to bring people together to create a transformational corridor of renewal in the Three Mile Creek watershed. People moving about on the trail and waterway corridor will promote economic and neighborhood development, as well as opportunities for additional amenities along the trail and creek such as community gardens and entertainment venues. The Three Mile Creek project will be a long-term tangible representation to future generations of accomplishments gained by bringing people together to work toward a common goal.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE CITY OF MOBILE'S MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR THREE MILE CREEK.
Trail Information
Currently one section of the trail at Tricentennial Park is operational. Bids for construction of select trail sections are currently being solicited. The currently proposed trail map can be found here.
Environmental Restoration
The Three Mile Creek watershed covers approximately 19,000 acres or 30 square miles in the cities of Mobile and Prichard. The majority of the 30 square mile watershed lies within Mobile city limits. Today, Three Mile Creek is only recommended for Agricultural and Industrial Water Supply, the lowest of Alabama’s water use designations and quality standards. The stream failed to meet even those lowest of water quality standards as it carried storm water from city streets and waste water discharge from treatment plants to the Mobile River.
Watershed Management Plan
With a watershed management plan in place and bolstered by the announcement of a RESTORE Act funding award of over $11 million for watershed restoration, a range of structural and non-structural recommendations and projects to improve the ecological conditions of Three Mile Creek are underway. For more information on the Three Mile Creek watershed management plan go to the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program website.
Here are few highlights of plan goals and objectives:
The Goals
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Improve water quality;
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Protect and improve the health of fish and wildlife;
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Provide access to resources;
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Restore heritage and cultural connection between the watershed and community, and
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Plan and prepare for climate resiliency.
The Objectives
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Develop 12.3 miles of continuous greenway and restore natural channels and riparian buffer where feasible;
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Develop a strategy for implementing Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) in coordination with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM);
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Achieve state water quality standards for warm water fisheries;
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Eliminate all known illicit connections/sanitary inputs;
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Reduce amount of trash in waterways by 75 percent;
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Maintain design level of service for flood protection from U.S. Army Corp of Engineersdams; and
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Install environmental education signage in six existing or proposed parks.