Jackson adds new sidewalk to trail system

Over the last several decades, the city of Jackson -- and its residents -- largely ignored the pedestrian population.

Property owners allowed the sidewalks in front of their homes to crumble and disappear over time. The city didn't require or encourage developers to build sidewalks. Developers and homeowners declined to build sidewalks in many neighborhoods.

As a result, the sidewalk pattern in Jackson is patchy and unpredictable. In the span of one block that does have sidewalks, the concrete path may start and stop several times with grass in between. In many cases, including streets near the city park, joggers, walkers and baby strollers have effectively been forced into the street.

But the city is making up for lost time.

On Thursday, city employees and civic officials recognized the opening of the second phase of Jackson's recreational trail system. The Orchard Trace "trail" looks like a typical sidewalk only a bit wider at 6 feet. It runs along Broadridge Road, turns east on Orchard Drive and connects the middle school's bus entrance with Orchard Elementary School.

The project, about 1,875 feet long, was built by the city's street department for $9,700 in materials. The path ties into the first phase of the trail -- along Independence Street, which connects the middle school with the city park.

"This improvement is used every day by children walking back and forth to school," Jackson Mayor Paul Sander said. "That's what it was built for."

Street superintendent Steve Hendrix lives in the neighborhood and estimated that at least twice as many children use the concrete path compared to last year, when they would have to walk on the grass.

Schools superintendent Dr. Ron Anderson said the trail provides a safer route for the children who want to walk and ride their bikes to school.

"As time goes by, I think it will be used even more," he said.

On Thursday, only a handful of Orchard Elementary students used the path. Many more use the first phase of the trail.

Norma Miller, who lives in the neighborhood, struggled to push her youngest son in a stroller on the grass as she moved toward the trail on Thursday. She uses the trail nearly every day to meet her son, Dwight, and walk him home.

"It's a huge difference," she said.

Later this year, or early next year, the city will build the next phase of the trail, which will tie into a Missouri Department of Transportation trail along the widened West Jackson Boulevard.

The city's portion of the project, Hendrix said, will include two blocks of trail along East Lane. MoDOT's trail will complete approximately four miles of the recreational system and will plug into the high school campus. Eventually, the trail will go from the high school to the park on either Russell Street or Missouri Street.

The trail system represents a shift in the city's view of pedestrians and cyclists. In addition to the planned trail system, the city recently added incentives for developers to include sidewalks in their overall plan.

Jackson building and planning superintendent Janet Sanders said developers now have the option of building narrower streets -- and thus save money -- if they also include 4-foot-wide sidewalks and limit parking to one side of the street.

At one point in the city's history, Sanders said, sidewalks were standard. "But we got away from that," she said.

She also said property owners are responsible for the maintenance of the sidewalks once they're built.

The city will maintain the recreational trail system, Bollinger said.

bmiller@semissourian.com

243-6635