New trail would put paths past city limits
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers asks for City Hall's help with bike route spanning from SLT to Clinton Lake
Lawrence’s bicycle trails may soon grow beyond city limits.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is asking for City Hall’s help in developing a 7,000-foot trail that would extend from the city’s South Lawrence Trafficway bike path to Sander’s Mound at Clinton Lake.
“It is a natural extension for people who want to walk, bike and jog out there,” said Fred DeVictor, the city’s director of Parks and Recreation.
Clark Coan, a longtime Lawrence advocate for new trails, agreed.
“It’s always great to link up different trails, so you can keep going farther,” he said Monday. “It creates a synergy.”
The 10-foot-wide concrete path would run from where the SLT trail approaches the Clinton Lake park entrance and then go west more than a mile to loop around Sander’s Mound overlooking the lake. Construction would cost more than $100,000, officials said, with City Hall contributing design expertise.
“It would be a neat thing to tie into our trail system,” DeVictor said. “They aren’t asking for city funding; they are asking for our support and for some help in the planning for this.”
The construction would be paid for with a hoped-for grant from the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks.
“Lawrence is obviously a community that is deeply involved in and supportive of trails,” said Willem Helms, a Clinton Lake ranger working on the project. “Everyone loves the outdoors. I think everyone wants to be more healthy by utilizing the trails in the community.”
Coan expressed one concern.
“Some people won’t like it going around Sander’s Mound because there’s some native prairie out there,” he said.
The Lawrence City Commission is expected tonight to approve City Hall’s involvement in the project.
| The Lawrence City Commission is expected to discuss the city’s involvement in constructing a bicycle trail at Clinton Lake. The commission meets at 6:35 p.m. today at City Hall, Sixth and Massachusetts streets. |
“Sounds great,” Mayor Mike Rundle said Monday. “Interconnecting trails, I think, enhance the value of them and make them more functional. There’s recreational use, but they’re more useful for getting around, as well.”
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