Trails in Jackson city park set for an upgrade

Walking in Jackson's city park is about to be a smoother experience, officials say.

In June 2017, the city received word a grant application to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources had been turned down, according to previous reporting by the Southeast Missourian. That grant would have paid to install about 3,400 feet of asphalt-paved trails along North Union Avenue, Park Street and Optimist Hill Drive, two raised crosswalks and a paved trailhead at the new restroom.

So, said city engineer Clint Brown, instead, the trail rehabilitation and extension will be rolled into the city's existing annual pavement improvement program.

Brown said the citywide survey conducted in 2017 listed streets, trail and sidewalks as the No. 1 resident priority.

"Because we want to focus more on all three of these areas, we have begun to add sidewalks and trails to the annual street programs," Brown said.

Sidewalk work on Mary and South High streets was completed earlier in 2018, Brown said.

"Our goal is to take 5 percent of the project budgets and devote them to sidewalks and walking trails every year," Brown said.

As the city park trails are now, portions are "just old millings and tar mixed together," Brown said. "We are going to put hot mix asphalt on these trails, which will make the trails smoother and more maintainable."

That's important from the parks department's perspective too, said parks and recreation director Shane Anderson.

"If we could provide a better place, a nice walkway, that makes for a more enjoyable walking experience," Anderson said, noting that he has seen a recent uptick in the number of mothers with strollers out on the trails.

"That also tells me the trail needs to be well kept, flat, and drained well," Anderson said.

The existing paths will be paved, Anderson said, and a connecting path will be added to make the system into a loop.

Additionally, a path from the parking lot to the new city park restroom will be ADA accessible, he said, and will connect to the ball fields as well as the other trails in the city park.

The new city park restroom on Parkview Street is expected to be open for use by the end of September, public works director Kent Peetz said at Monday's Board of Aldermen meeting.

"We're going to regrade the trail by the Civic Center to keep mud from washing up," Anderson added.

Administrative services director Rodney Bollinger said the Civic Center trail, also known as the Hubble Creek Recreation Trail, grading project is scheduled for completion toward the end of 2018.

Some fill removed from that site will be used with the East Main Street and Oak Hill Road traffic signal project, Bollinger noted.

As for the overall pavement improvement program, Jokerst Inc. is continuing to work on the $255,000 program, Bollinger said.

So far, patch work and overlay of South Farmington Road from West Jackson Boulevard to Oak Street is complete, Bollinger said, among other projects, and crews are now working on full depth repairs on West Mary Street.

Patches on Parkview Street and the park pedestrian trail overlay are scheduled for completion later this year, Bollinger said.

Brown noted work on the pedestrian trails should begin late this month, weather permitting.

As to the plan to pave the trails, Anderson said, "We want to be smart for the future but at same time, we want to know what will keep people happy. And this project will keep them healthy too."

mniederkorn@semissourian.com

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