Pittsburg Bike and Hike Trail Approval
By: Jessica Schaer
Updated: January 24, 2013
PITTSBURG, KS.--- "Get outside! Enjoy your community, and bike and hike, and be healthy," states Daron Hall, Pittsburg City Manager.
Pittsburg city officials want to build a hike-and-bike trail that will begin at 12th and Broadway and wind through Pittsburg to 4th and Water.
To fund the project, city staff will submit an application for an $800,000 grant from the Kansas Department of Transportation. The application is due February 15th and the city must match $200,000 of the funds.
To fund the project, city staff will submit an application for an $800,000 grant from the Kansas Department of Transportation. The application is due February 15th and the city must match $200,000 of the funds.
"We haven't earmarked any city money for this. This is something that we're going to try to work with the private philanthropic community on," says Hall.
City leaders say the new trail could help alleviate traffic flow throughout the city.
"We're predominantly locked into driving everywhere we go, but like I said, it'd be a good safe route to get through town. It allows a lot of the kids in this area to have a safe way to walk to school," states Troy Graham, Pittsburg Assistant Director of Public Works.
Another project that will be coming soon is the indoor events center at Pittsburg State University.
"It's a building that has an indoor track, and indoor 80-yard football field, and a lot of the related equipment rooms," says Hall.
Commissioners approved to pay the university $5 million over 20 years so the city can also use the building for events.
"We can have conventions in there, we can have trade shows in there, which is something we don't have currently. I mean, we have memorial auditorium, we have a couple other venues, but we don't have anything like that," says Hall.
City leaders say both the event center and the bike trail will be great additions to the city.
"I think it's a community builder. It's an economic piece that people, when they come to our community, want to know what's here," say Hall.
No word on when construction will start on the indoor events center. As for the bike trail, city staff will know by the end of summer if their grant has been awarded.
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