Kings Park Bike Trail Project Could Get a Boost

City officials hope to move forward with plans to improve Kings Park in the city's Northside neighborhood.

Kings Park occupies 14 acres and offers the community a nearby spot to be outdoors, use playground equipment, and entertain small gatherings in the small area that has been developed. City officials would like to utilize more of the land and create mountain bike trails and hiking trails. 

Councilman David Watson has spearheaded the initiative to create the trails at Kings Park but said it would take approximately $9,600 to pay for a feasibility study and to begin clearing the trails.

Watson led an effort last summer to clear the kudzu and brush enough to create trails but found little success.

"I put like 29 gallons of roundup on it and you couldn't even tell," Watson said. "To get the entire project done is I think a couple hundred thousand dollars."

Councilman Chris Mann suggested the city apply for a grant through Fluor, which is seeking applications for community projects and plans to select 10 recipients worldwide to receive grants of $10,000 each from the company's Centennial Community Fund between Jan. 5 and Feb. 6. Five of the projects selected will be here in the United States.

Fluor employee Christine de Vlaming contacted Mann about the grants and will work with the city to coordinate the application. The winners will be announced in April.

City officials will need to determine which project will be used to apply for the grant funding with options like the Kings Park project or the Brushy Creek Greenway. The Greenway is a project that Mann said will likely be a 10-15 year project with a final cost in the millions.

"Ten thousand dollars is a lot of money and it's not a lot of money," Mann said when you compare the overall size of the project. 

The committee will meet again in January to discuss the projects and funding again.