Jackson Cyclists and Pedestrians Getting Multimillion-Dollar Trail Upgrade

• City plans to fully upgrade MLK Equality Trail by 2025.
• New concrete pavement is replacing 30-year old crumbling asphalt, and trail is being widened to 12 feet.
• Eighty percent of this multimillion-dollar project will be funded by state and federal grants earmarked for non-motorized transport, with the City of Jackson contributing the remainder.
• According to the City of Jackson, total project cost to replace asphalt with concrete: about $2.5 million for the segment from Weatherwax to Merriman. The remainder of the trail is already concrete.
• Video shows various sections of the trail, including improvements, City of Jackson Public Information Officer Aaron Dimick, and cyclist Tim Gatz.

(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)

From Falling Waters to Downtown, from asphalt to concrete – Jackson’s MLK Equality Trail is getting a full upgrade.

For those of us who like to bike or walk through our City, life is about to get a little bit better.

“We’re undergoing a really big project here in the City of Jackson to redo the entire length of the MLK Equality Trail,” says City of Jackson Public Information Officer Aaron Dimick.

This summer’s work is only part of a 3-year plan for the 4-mile trail.

Parts of the trail have already been overhauled.

You’ll need to make a detour for the next few weeks around this part between South MLK Drive and Prospect Street — concrete is still curing. Dimick tells me it’ll be worth the wait.

“What we’re doing here is totally modernizing the trail, bringing it up to current standards,” says Dimick.

Repaving and widening to 12 feet means more room for everyone.

“I really like the widening of the trail and the cement,” says Tim Gatz, who bikes the trail regularly.

The City's goal: to complete the upgrade by next year.

“I’ll be happy — the more they do the happier I’ll get," says Gatz. "I always try to be polite and, when people are walking, I pull off onto the grass around. But you don’t have to do that when the trail is wide.”

And the trail is not just for recreation.

“We know that a lot of people use this for recreation as far as exercise, walking dogs, just getting out of the house…But we also know that a lot of people use our trail for getting to work and school," notes Dimick. "So this is really a critical piece of infrastructure that we’re updating in the City of Jackson.”

And the good news — no assessments for this one. State and federal grants are covering 80% of the upgrade, says Dimick, with the City funding the remainder.

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