If only the men who masterminded ’s first transcontinental railroad were still around. What advice would they give to today’s urban planners?

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Back in the 1900s, the railroad barons had real problems, like how to chisel tunnels through the Sierra Nevada with hand drills. But they eventually built a 3,500-mile railroad track connecting East Coast to West.

 

 

By comparison, Dallas ’ struggle to finish out the last 144 miles of a foot trail may seem minor. But it’s no less contentious.

 

 

For years, environmentalists and recreation enthusiasts have been pushing for car-crazed Dallas to adopt a more ozone-friendly attitude by carving trails along utility lines and creek beds. Their effort picked up steam a few years ago when a citywide survey found that trails and soccer fields — not traditional neighborhood parks — topped Dallas residents’ wish list.

 

 

Since then, designers and planners have gone into overdrive, as have a handful of grassroots groups that have been raising money on their own for different sections of the trail network.

 

 

“We see the trails are emerging as a higher and higher priority,” says Willis Winters, assistant director of the city’s park and recreation department.

 

 

To the optimistic eye, Dallas is now poised to claim its own manifest destiny of sorts, joining a series of short trails into one continuous, 229-mile stretch of car-free splendor.

 

 

“I personally am really excited about this,” says Kevin Felton, president of For the Love of the Lake , a White Rock Lake volunteer support organization.

 

 

To date, 85 miles of the overall 229-mile trail network has been built, providing recreation enthusiasts with a taste of things to come.

 

 

Felton, who says he has an “if you build it, they will come” philosophy about the trails, says he’s glad the city is focusing on its urban core.

 

 

“These amenities need to be where the people are,” he says.

 

 

 

 

Nearby Trails

 

Lake Highlands residents stand to benefit from several facets of the trail plan:

 

 

• Lake Highlands Trail is a 1.4-mile planned trail that has been partially funded but not yet built. The trail runs in an east-west line at

Church Road

between Skillman and Audelia.

 

 

The trail will connect the neighborhood to Lake Highlands High School and Lake Highlands North Park, primarily along a TXU right of way. Plans also call for exploring whether it’s possible to link the trail to the existing White Rock Creek Greenbelt Trail, which would be another three miles at a cost of an additional $3.5 million.

 

 

The 2003 bond program provided money for design and construction of the Lake Highlands Trail. Planners say the trail could open in 2007.

 

 

Cottonwood Trail will be a four-mile concrete trail that will connect Preston Ridge Trail in Far North Dallas to White Rock Creek Trail. It’s a key part of providing 35 miles of continuous trail from Plano to downtown.

 

 

All but 1.5 miles of the Cottonwood is already built but four small remaining sections are complex and expensive. Supporters say it will take $4 million to complete the work, which will essentially connect existing trails north and south of the high-five interchange at Central and LBJ.

 

 

The cost to complete the trail is high because the connection spots are difficult to design and construct, supporters say. Texas Instruments kicked off the fundraising campaign with a $25,000 donation.

 

 

“Those are expensive segments primarily because you’re tunneling under the highway at the high-five” and constructing new bridges, says former Dallas City Council member Mary Poss, who has been working to secure funding for the Cottonwood .

 

 

At the high-five exchange, plans call for a 500-foot tunnel under Central Expressway, she says.

 

 

“This trail will be a very exciting trail…because it will be complete with the amenities that people want,” Poss says. “For example, we will have trees; we already have park furniture that’s been donated. There will be emergency telephones on the route.”

 

 

 

 

Growing Support

 

 

While completion of the entire trail network is still at least a couple of years away, support for the trail system is growing.

 

 

“The mentality toward trails has changed significantly,” says Winters, the assistant parks director. “It’s quite a change from 10 years ago.”

 

 

Back then, when the city built a small neighborhood trail in far North Dallas called

Kiowa Parkway

, Winters recalls, many residents resisted the idea. He says some residents feared it would bring criminals into the neighborhood and provide them with a ready means of escape.

 

 

In fact, parks officials and residents say, just the reverse has proved to be true. The trails are so well-traveled by neighborhood residents — who don’t hesitate to report a suspicious person from their cell phones — that some residents now feel safer.

 

 

“It’s a built in crime-watch — that’s the way we describe it now,” says senior park planner Michael C. Hellman.

 

 

          To some, the political support for the trail system is overdue.

 

 

“We’d love to see the trails built,” says Bruce Fitch, president of the Dallas Trekkers Walking Club. “In my opinion, it needs a lot of work.”

 

 

“ Dallas is not a walking friendly city,” he says. “We would dearly like to see more emphasis made on making Dallas a walkable city.”

 

 

Dallas Trekkers is part of an international organization that has mapped about 1,500 trails in 41 countries. Although North Texas members have mapped out a dozen 10-kilometer trails — including one that makes use of the existing Katy Trail — Dallas is playing catch up, even compared to other Texas cities, Fitch says.

 

 

“Take a city like Austin , and it has done a lot with trails,” he says. “ Dallas has a lot of cities that don’t even have sidewalks.”

 

 

But others see the tide turning soon. In March, park department officials briefed the city officials on the trail network master plan. The city’s Park Board is set to approve the plan this year and officials are optimistic about securing more funding in future bond programs. Meanwhile, they’re working on design and construction of the remaining miles that have been funded but not yet built.

 

 

Trails enthusiasts say the plans will not only provide more green space, but also strengthen the sense of well-being for recreation enthusiasts.

 

 

“ Dallas has not been very bicycle friendly,” Felton says. “The trails have really improved that. You’re still somewhat out on your own out on the roads.”