Jackson trail system to extend north and south

Jackson walkers and joggers will have more trail options once the city extends the Hubble Creek Recreation Trail this summer and fall.

Public works director Rodney Bollinger said Thursday the expansion is scheduled to happen in two phases -- one that will extend to the north and the other to the south.

The first phase, for which the city is accepting bids now, will extend the trail between the city park and the existing recreation trail along West Jackson Boulevard to connect the two.

The city has been awarded a grant from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources for up to $100,000 for the construction of Phase I.

The look of both phases of the new trail, Bollinger said, will be consistent with the rest of Hubble Creek Recreation Trail: an eight-foot-wide concrete path with safety lighting every 200 feet and crosswalks where the trail crosses roadways.

Phase I will add 3,300 feet to the trail between West Washington Street and West Jackson Boulevard.

The bidding is expected to be finished in late February, and construction is slated to begin in the spring and be completed by the end of the summer.

Phase II will extend from the opposite side of the city park and run 4,600 feet to the new Jackson Civic Center at 381 E. Deerwood Drive.

This phase will be funded in part by a grant from the Missouri Department of Transportation through its Transportation Alternatives program.

The grant will cover 80 percent of the cost of the project.

"It's maybe a month or two away from bidding Phase II out," Bollinger said. "Phase II is probably going to be constructed in the summer and fall of 2016 window, I would think."

All construction will take place within existing public easements and city-owned park lands.

Bollinger said the projects will mark a significant step toward completing the overall design of the trail, which is intended to stretch from the Jackson Soccer Park to a proposed dog park north of the Civic Center near the northern city limit line, connecting the city park and Brookside Park.

When the trail is finished, it will stretch about three miles.

The Jackson Parks and Recreation Department estimates the existing recreation facilities are used more than 100,000 times annually. Parks and recreation director Shane Anderson said the trail is by far the most popular public recreation utility.

tgraef@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3627