The woods around the campus will soon be full of nuts. Health nuts, that is.
The SFA board of regents recently approved the creation of hiking and biking trails on the northeast corner of University Drive and Starr Avenue. Throughout the 67-acre wooded area a 1.25-mile multi-use trail has been paved, and approximately four miles of single-track mountain bike trails will be available for public use beginning in spring of 2010.
Staff photo by Andrew Rogers |
Mike Kelly, Nacogdoches Assistant Police Chief, points out where the proposed hiking and biking trail would go through the land between East Austin St. and Northeast Stallings Dr. on the west side of North University Drive.
|
"Most of these were socially developed trails that already existed," said Michael Maningas, assistant director of Campus Recreation. "We have added three pole bridges ranging in length from 15 to 40 feet, and we will be adding some features for advanced riders according to guidelines set down by the International Mountain Bike Association."
Other additions to be completed in the coming months include a picnic area, a 100,000-square-foot garden and regulatory and way-finding signage.
Construction on the trails has been partially funded by a $105,000 grant from Texas Parks and Wildlife. According to Maningas, several SFA student groups, faculty members, civic clubs and Boy Scout Troop 100 have all volunteered their time to help with construction.
Trail improvements are happening all around town as the local consciousness shifts toward a more health-aware paradigm.
According to Nacogdoches Parks and Recreation Director Kathy Joslyn, even the tried and true creek trails are getting face-lifts.
"We just put in a half-mile of trail at Banita Creek Park," Joslyn said. "We're just now in the initial planning stages of taking the LaNana Creek Trail north all the way to the loop."
Assistant Chief of Police Mike Kelly is heading up the Banita Creek Trail extension project for the Healthy Nacogdoches Coalition.
"Right now we're working on improving existing trail, which is an ongoing process," Kelly said.
The two-mile extension will connect the trail to the loop at the north end and will have several side trails connecting to University Drive, according to Kelly.
"We're looking at getting grants right now to help with the cost of putting in an underpass where the trail meets East Austin," Kelly said. "It's expensive if you want to do it right."
He said the proposed underpass alone would cost $90,000. Paved trails will require additions funds, as well.
While the grant money may not yet be a certainty, the trail isn't in danger of not opening.
"If we don't get the grant money, we'll open the trail as a primitive trail," Kelley said.
Kelly said that one final easement or land donation is still needed at the north end of the extension. When completed, the trail will provide alternative transportation routes to campus for over 1,500 residents living in the 586 nearby apartment units.
"There are several apartment complexes on that end of University Drive, mostly inhabited by college students," Kelly said. "The new trail would be a two-mile bike ride to campus, and it's a lot safer that riding down University (Drive)."
For more information, visit www.healthynacogdoches.org.
