Trails Of
the Loop

TRINITY FOREST SPINE TRAIL
TRINITY SKYLINE LINK
SANTA FE TRESTLE TRAIL
SOPAC TRAIL
KATY TRAIL
TRINITY SKYLINE TRAIL
SANTA FE TRAIL
TRINITY STRAND TRAIL
UNIVERSITY CROSSING TRAIL
TRINITY FOREST TRAIL
AT&T TRAIL
TRINITY GATEWAY TRAIL
HI-LINE CONNECTOR

Month: November 2016

Dallas trails are a few tweaks away from a 50-mile magic loop

Posted on by The Loop

Dallas is one step closer to having a trail system that links throughout the city. Circuit Trail Conservancy (CTC) has raised $23 million in private and non-city funds for The Loop, which would provide a contiguous 50-mile premier urban trail network encircling the core of Dallas.

The Loop would serve as an alternative transportation system connecting existing and planned hike and bike trails, bus stops, DART lines, economic centers, and neighborhoods.

CTC chairman Jeff Ellerman said in a release the system just needs a few tweaks.

Read the full article here

“Dallas has a plan for the Dallas Integrated Trail Circuit, which comprises nearly 130 miles of wonderful trails,” he said. “The problem is this plan may take many years to complete, and our trails don’t connect. What’s missing are some key connectors to link these fragmented trail systems.”

They realized that, by adding four key connectors, the system could form a 50-mile loop around the center of Dallas, stretching from Richardson to White Rock Lake to South Dallas to West Dallas.

CTC was tasked by the City of Dallas to raise at least $20 million that it would then match. The total cost of the project is $56 million.

Over a decade ago, the City of Dallas set out to design and build a master trail system to link neighborhoods to transportation hubs and economic centers, making Dallas more livable and pedestrian friendly. The Hike and Bike Trail Network Master Plan has been adopted, and the Dallas Parks and Recreation Department (PARD) adopted the Dallas Integrated Trail Circuit plan (Dallas ITC).

PARD then approved the public/private partnership strategy to complete Dallas ITC, and Circuit Trail Conservancy was formed to design, construct, and operate an integrated trail system, as well as raise funds to make the plans a reality.

Many miles of trails have been constructed, but there are still key aspects that need to be added in order to link existing trails and connect neighborhoods:

  • Leverage Dallas’ current trail system by creating a contiguous 50-mile recreation amenity
  • Create alternative and safe transportation routes
  • Stimulate economic development and attract new residents
  • Connect people to nature and to be known as a 21st-century city

The four proposed connectors total a little more than 10 miles:

  • The Trinity Forest Spine Trail, about 8.7 miles long, connects White Rock Lake and East Dallas to South Dallas, all the way down to the Great Trinity Forest and to destinations there, including the Trinity River Audubon Center, Texas Horse Park, and the Trinity Forest Golf Course. Part of this path includes the existing Santa Fe Trail and the Joppa Connector Trail and the Trinity Forest Trail System.
  • The Circuit Trail Connection Trail and Bridge, approximately 1 mile, connects the shared-use path and bridge structure between the Katy Trail to the Trinity Strand Trail.
  • The Baker Pump Station Gateway is about a 1-mile shared-use path connecting the Trinity Strand Trail to the Trinity Skyline Trail.
  • The Trinity Skyline Trail Link is about a 1-mile shared-use path connecting the existing Trinity River Skyline Trail to the Trinity River Audubon Center and Trinity Forest Trails.

Mike Terry, a CTC board member, called The Loop “the next big, immediate project for Dallas.” Fellow board member Larry Dale emphasized that there are no right-of-way issues involved, thus keeping the costs down.

“Since we already have a lot of the trails built, let’s connect what we already have,” he said.

CTC board members — chairman Jeff Ellerman, president Philip Henderson, Larry Dale, Linda Owen, Rick Perdue, Joseph Pitchford, and Mike Terry — contributed to the campaign.

Additional supporters to date include Lydia and Bill Addy, Crow Family Holdings, Lawrence B. Dale Family Foundation, Hunt Realty Investments, Mary and Mike Terry, Gil Besing, Billingsley Family, Jane and Pat Bolin, Cecilia and Garrett Boone, Greg Colvin, Corrigan Family Holdings, Pam and Jeff Ellerman, Headington Companies, Jerry and Philip Henderson, Highland Capital Management, Rhonda and Jim Hoyt, Jordan Family Foundation, Diana and Todd Maclin, Bill and Patricia Miller, Muse Family Foundation, Linda Owen, Dee Ann and Marshall Payne, Jodi and Rick Perdue, Joseph Pitchford, Richardson Bike Mart, Carla and Woody Smith, and more.

$23 million raised to link 50 miles of Dallas’ disconnected trail system

Posted on by The Loop

In late June the Circuit Trail Conservancy said it would attempt to raise $23 million in private dollars to complete the trail system Dallas has long been promised — the 50-mile-long network that would link North Dallas to southern Dallas to East Dallas, Bishop Arts to Uptown. This morning, its board members held a news conference in the Flag Room to say they had delivered on the promise.

Now, the conservancy needs something in return from the City Council: $20 million in bond money.

“Does anyone else remember Ron Chapman’s radio tagline?” said board member Linda Owen, referring to the legendary Dallas disc jockey. “He said, ‘The city of Dallas is brought to you by the people of Dallas.’ The people of Dallas shape the future. We cannot expect the city to do it all. It’s just plain prudent and essential for city leaders to encourage private involvement in public amenities.”

Read the full article here

Indeed, it was Mayor Mike Rawlings who initially encouraged the conservancy’s founding board members to do something about connecting the trails that now dead-end as they run along the Trinity River or attempt to connect White Rock Lake to the Trinity River Audubon Center.

“I love this idea,” Rawlings said Wednesday, “because this idea connects all parts of our city and brings our city together. [And] it’s a great moment when we get to explore the real beauty of Dallas and get on those trails and participate and see what the Trinity Forest is all about.”

He also stressed what several conservancy board members pointed out throughout Wednesday morning’s news conference: Trails serve as economic generators. Look no further than the Katy Trail, which turned formerly fallow Uptown land into property worth billions.

The Loop, as it’s called, will contain four key linkages. The longest — and, at $18 million, the most expensive — is the 8.7-mile-long Trinity Forest Spine Trail, which connects White Rock Lake to the Great Trinity Forest and all the amenities contained therein, including the Audubon Center and the Trinity Forest Golf Course. Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Erik Wilson said he hoped the spine would spark an interest in eco-tourism in his southern Dallas district.

Dallas County has already committed $5 million to the spine trail, which the city master-planned several years ago. And Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said Wednesday there are conversations with the North Central Texas Council of Governments about providing another $8 million in matching funds.

The three other Loop connections — the Circuit Trail Connection, the Baker Pump Station Gateway and the Trinity Skyline Trail Link — will run around a mile each.  There’s also a proposed bridge over Stemmons, which would make it easy to bike and hike from downtown to the Design District.

“If this map doesn’t sell the thing for you, I don’t know what else will,” said council member Philip Kingston. “So often in Dallas it feels like we fight and fight that uphill, Sisyphean battle against street maintenance and it never gets better. This will get us better in a hurry.”

The total price tag of the project is expected to be around $56 million. But the conservancy has promised to raise the additional $13 million needed for amenities, landscaping and future maintenance.

That leaves the $20 million needed in bond money, and that won’t be easy to come by.

City Manager A.C. Gonzalez has said the May 2017 bond program will likely be capped at $800 million, with most of that going toward streets. An early suggestion going to council Wednesday morning caps parks money at $50 million, which isn’t nearly enough to cover numerous needs, long-made promises (including water parks) and copious matching funds being offered by, among others, Parks for Downtown Dallas, the Friends of the Katy Trail and the Dallas Zoo.

“We’ll try to convince our other City Council members we’re heading in the right direction,” Rawlings told the conservancy’s board members Wednesday. “Thank you for doing your part.”