Columbia City Council voted Monday night to approve two of four proposed options to link Rollins St. and Shepard Blvd. The new trail will run from Bluff Dale Dr. along the Hinkson Creek Valley down to the northwest corner of Stadium Blvd.
Of the residents that voiced their opinion in the general interest meeting discussing the proposed trail options, about 75 percent were in favor of the eventual approved options. Peter Pastoret was one of many residents in favor of the plan.
“I think overall if you were to look down stream ten or twenty years, I think they will have been used to a large degree by most people that seem to like these kind of things,” Pastoret said
Many environmentalists wanted a different plan of action because of the threats the approved options placed on the environment. The main concern was that erosion and flooding could occur from the installation of concrete trail paths, ultimately destroying land and potentially homes.
Other residents including Badger Johnson were in favor of a compromise between the two sides.
“I think a modification of option one in addition to option four would be the best options as it currently stands,” said Johnson. “I think that I wouldn’t really be pleased if they voted on any of them until the conflict was resolved between the preservationists and the bike advocates.”
Funding for the trails will come from the GetAbout fund and will cost around $2.5 million. Right now that fund only has $1.7 million in it, so project planners say they’ll be talking to public works to try to figure out how to find more money for the trail project.
