-
Final Design for the 2nd Street Shared Loop Trail Arieanna Crowson CC
GRANTS, NM – On Thursday, June 29 a public meeting was held from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. for the community to hear information regarding the Second Street Shared Loop Trail. Community members were encouraged to attend the event to provide comments and ask questions regarding the final design for the multi-use trail extension.
The public meeting began with an introduction from Claudia Diaz from Wilson and Company. She said, “I want to give overall project information… where the project is located… We want to do a loop around [Grants High School].” Diaz also spoke about how the project has been worked on since 2018 and that right now they are working on making sure the plans are up to date and are still up to today’s standards. The estimated cost of construction (at the time of this meeting) was $2.7 million.
The Second Street Shared Loop Trail is a proposed trail that connects the already existing trail located in front of Grants High School on Second Street and loops around the school. The trail will be connecting to the pedestrian bridge located on Washington Avenue looping around and connecting to the trail located on the corner of Roosevelt Ave. and Second Street. The trail will be 20-feet wide and will be tied into existing terrain. In some parts of the trail pedestrian railing will also be constructed due to the terrain. Diaz said, “The configuration is mainly due to terrain, to minimize cost and meet ADA compliance. We are keeping within the school property [and] city righta- way.” On Roosevelt Ave. there will have to be improvements when it comes to drainage and the drainage on Second Street will also have to be accounted for. The plan to accommodate the drainage is to plan spacing between the channel and the trail which will be 10feet and to include a curb and gutter that will be a minimum of 10-feet away from the trail.
One of the concerns from a community member is the security of Grants High School, considering that the trail will be looping around the school, and in most cases is on GCCS property. Diaz said, “We have met with Ron [GCCS Director of Facilities and Operations Ronald Triplehorn] at least twice so far… There are already existing gates that they can close off.” Another question was regarding drainage pools located near the trail, and how they need to be accounted for. Diaz answered that they are accounting only for drainage crossings now. Diaz also spoke about how they will be putting a box for the drainage crossing located on Roosevelt Ave. It was also discussed that the trail will be put on top of the box at the drainage crossing and a pipe will be installed to discharge the water through the channel. Another community member also shared their concerns about how they will get the trail over the culverts which they reiterated that they will be putting a box.
There were some concerns regarding what material the trail would be made out of, considering the ever-moving terrain. Diaz said that they are using materials based on recommendations from a geo-report they had done for the trail. Based on that report the base will be base course and the top will be asphalt.
The meeting went forward with recommendations for things community members would like to see added or included in the planning of the construction. One of the recommendations was fencing along both sides of the trail. Diaz said that they assisted the school in applying for roadway funding, the amount she estimated they were awarded was $88,000 which can assist with purchasing an area of land or fencing around the school.
Some of the other recommendations for what can be included is rest stops, lighting, trashcans, etc. It was said that landscaping cannot be done until after construction of the trail is completed since the grant for the trail doesn’t allow it. The city will need to apply for funding and grants that will allow them to use the money for landscaping. The only landscaping that can be done with the current grant for the trail is benches made from recycled materials.
Construction of the Second Street Loop Trail is estimated to begin early next year, and bidding for construction is estimated to begin October.