Chet Edwards For Congress

March 27, 2006
Proposed trail being expanded

Fort Worth Star Telegram
By MARTHA DELLER | Star-Telegram Staff Writer

BURLESON - Motorists will soon have a faster east-west route across Burleson via Hidden Creek Parkway.

And city leaders say they hope a six-mile trail system for hikers and bikers will not be far behind.

Once separate projects, the road construction and trail creation have become intertwined. As the road is being built, it has created an opportunity for expanding a planned trail, said longtime Councilman Jim Bailey.

The $16 million parkway is being paid for with sales taxes approved by voters in 2000. The project extends and expands two shorter two-lane sections of the existing road into a four- and five-lane parkway that will run from Texas 174 past Interstate 35W to East Renfro Street.

The parkway required tons of dirt to build bridges over Village Creek and the Union Pacific Railroad, city engineer David Wynn said. That prompted the Fort Worth contractor, Orval Hall Excavating, to buy a 10-acre site to excavate dirt.

The company then donated that land to the city, Wynn said. The 7-acre, 12-foot-deep hole became the beginnings of an artificial lake, named by the council in honor of Bailey.

City officials say they want to use that lake as the focal point for the Village Creek trail, a proposed and still-unfunded 3.8-mile hike-and-bike path west of I-35W.

The trail would connect to the future Oak Valley Trail, a 2.5-mile path east of I-35W that has already received $2.2 million in state grant funding. Construction on that trail is scheduled to begin next year and be completed in 2008, Parks Director Peter Krause said. The result will be a 6.3-mile trail system.

U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, who helped the city get a $250,000 federal grant to design the Village Creek trail, toured the site Thursday with Krause.
Krause noted that the weekend rains had filled Jim Bailey Lake, which has a depth of 20 feet in some spots. The city had been filling the lake with water routed from its storm-drain system, Wynn said.

The federal grant will be used to prepare designs that Krause will submit with the city's application for a $2.8 million state grant to build the Village Creek trail. That application is due April 28, he said.

If the city doesn't get the state grant, officials will resubmit it or apply for others, he said.

"We will design it regardless," Krause said. "We believe it is a good and viable project."

Bailey believes that the lake will address drainage problems he has fought for 18 years. He said he is also excited about the recreation and transportation options the trails will give the city's more than 30,000 residents.

"What we're going to do reminds me of Fort Worth's Trinity Park trails," he said. "People can drive their cars to Chisenhall Park and go either direction in a creek environment with lots of foliage."

Bailey envisions benches where people can sit, with places for classes. The concrete trails will allow people to walk or bike between homes, schools and shopping areas without getting onto highways, he said. Krause agrees.

"Once these trails are built, we can provide access to very nice parks and recreation," Krause said. "But they also serve as another mode of transportation to shopping and schools without using cars and public roadways. This is a very nice amenity for our city."

Edwards, who has two young sons, said many cities are adding hiking and biking trails to attract businesses and residents concerned about their health and quality of life.

"That trail was a high priority for the city of Burleson, and I was glad to help," he said.

"It improves the quality of life, helps economic development, encourages people to lead healthy lifestyles and saves money for our healthcare system."