In addition to the new bike share station at Longview Trail, approximately one mile of the trail’s surface at the south end of the trail around O’Donnell Park has been repaved. The improvement was made possible by a grant received from the federal government called a Federal Land Access Program (FLAP) Grant. The project was planned and managed by Jackson County Parks + Rec’s Landscape Architect Bruce Wilke.

The project involved putting in 10 ft wide concrete paving in the place of the trail’s gravel. The benefit of this improvement is that in the event of flooding, like we’ve recently experienced, the concrete will dry up and the trail will be reopen in a matter of days. The gravel trails take weeks to be rebuilt from the damage of floods. By having the concrete trails, it will save thousands of dollars for the maintenance department over the life of the trail.

“Our goal is to eventually be able to continue paving the Longview Lake Trail for the entire length of it. That was a great collaborative project we had with MODOT and the Federal Highway Administration to receive that grant,” said Deputy Director of Park Operations Brian Nowotny.