After receiving resistance from residents, Jefferson City staff is holding off on adding the final trail extension for the Frog Hollow Greenway.
Jefferson City held an open house last week regarding the proposed greenway extension along Tree Valley Lane, which previously was part of Frog Hollow Road.
The proposed extension would begin at the parking area in front of St. Mary's Urgent Care on West Edgewood Drive and extend along Edgewood Drive to the west side of Tree Valley Lane. It then would run along the western side of Tree Valley Lane to Cedarwood Drive. The extension would cross to the eastern side of Tree Valley Lane and run along a pedestrian bridge until it connects with the current greenway trail along Creek Trail Drive.
More than 25 residents attended the meeting, with a majority voicing concerns about how the extension would change the neighborhood and bring strangers walking through their neighborhood, City Engineer David Bange said. Residents also said they worried about crime, litter and walkers not picking up after their pets.
While some residents spoke in favor of the proposed greenway, Public Works Director Matt Morasch said, city staff plan to hold the estimated $400,000 project until they receive more direction from the Jefferson City Council or the Jefferson City Parks and Recreation Commission.
"Based on the meeting, we're kind of on hold on the project and moving it forward at this point," Morasch said. "I don't see it moving forward until someone gives us direction."
City staff initially had hoped to complete project plans by July and begin construction in September, Bange said.
City staff pushed for the proposed greenway extension since it would have completed the Frog Hollow Greenway and allowed walkers to continue on the greenway instead of ending at Creek Trail Drive. Over the last five years, the city has been gradually adding sections to connect the greenway trail so that it forms a loop that avoids the hill on Edgewood Drive going up to and over Missouri 179.
This final addition would have extended about 2,500 feet, Bange said, making the total loop a little more than a mile long.
The extension also would have provided access to the nearby new Capital City High School.
"We like to be proactive and try to address transportation needs, whether it's vehicle or pedestrian traffic, and we know the school is going to generate both," Morasch said. "The greenway is certainly a generator of bicyclers and walkers, whatever. It would be nice to complete the final loop of this trail."
This final phase has gone through several changes. City staff initially planned to run the extension behind properties on Creek Trail Drive, but there wasn't enough room for the trail and would have required continuous creek maintenance.
A second proposal suggested extending the greenway trail along Creek Trail Drive, but there wasn't much space to do so and it would have required utility work along that right-of-way, among other problems.
"At this moment, we would like to see the connection made, and if it doesn't go here, I'm not sure where it could go," Bange said prior to the open house. "I think if we look at the investment that's already been made during the first pieces, I think we would really like to see the final piece carried out."
Future plans include extending the trail south to St. Mary's Hospital so it connects large residential neighborhoods in the area, said JJ Gates, assistant parks director for the Jefferson City Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department.
The Frog Hollow Greenway trail was suggested in the city's 2007 Greenway Master Plan.