Memorandum

City of Lawrence

Parks & Recreation Department

DATE:	April 2, 2014
TO:	Dave Corliss, City Manager,
	Cynthia Wagner, Assistant City Manager
	Diane Stoddard, Assistant City Manager
	Ernie Shaw, Interim Director Parks & Recreation
FROM:	Mark Hecker, Assistant Director, Parks and Recreation
RE:	Rock Chalk Park – Trail Master Plan

The Parks & Recreation Department requests Commission approval of the master plan that will be used construct a series of public trails on the Rock Chalk Park property.

Project/Item Description

Over the past few months parks and recreation staff have teamed with a committee of community volunteers, KU Endowment representatives, Bliss Sports representatives, project architects and City engineering staff to design and layout a series of hiking / jogging trails on the property at Rock Chalk Park. These trails will be constructed and maintained by the project contractor as part of the development agreement for the site. Once constructed, these trails will be open for public access. The attached series of plans details the general locations of the trails on the site and the basic construction type for each trail. Specific locations will be flagged and constructed on-site to minimize damage to the natural setting.

Highlights of trail designs

• The total trail system on the property is over 5 miles in length
• The plans call for approximately 3.3 miles of scenic trails (yellow lines on plan) to be constructed in the wooded area north and west of the recreation center.  These trials will be constructed of crushed asphalt to provide a good quality running/walking surface in a natural setting. These trails will provide a 5 kilometer loop for hosting running and walking events on-site (5 kilometers = 3.1069 miles).
• This event course will start and finish near the front of the recreation center to allow for easy access to parking, restroom and concession facilities at the building. A fire pit will also be constructed near the event start/finish area to provide a nice gathering spot for event participants.
• The trail system can be easily accessed from all facilities on the site. This will allow patrons that may be participating or watching events to take a nice nature hike between events.
• There are nearly 2 miles of 10-foot wide concrete shared use paths on the site (blue & purple lines). These paths have multiple connecting points to the nature trails and will provide some very nice paved loops on the site for walkers and family fitness outings. These paths will also provide bicycle and pedestrian access to the Rock Chalk Park facilities from neighboring residential areas. These paths will connect to existing shared use paths along George Williams Way, which connects to 6^th street and Overland Drive paths. They will also provide connectivity to the SLT path that circles the City’s west and south sides.
• The NW corner of the property is owned by the KU Endowment Association. Trails constructed on this portion of the property will be constructed in accordance with a lease agreement between the City and KU Endowment. The lease will permit construction of the trails and public access to trails after construction.

Project Estimate/Funding

The estimated costs to construct the trail system were recently received from the contractor and are being reviewed by City engineering staff. Authorization to proceed with construction will placed on a future Commission agenda for approval.

Action Request.

1)  Approve the attached master plan for the trail system at the Rock Chalk Park

2) Direct City Manager to review cost estimates to assure compliance with the development agreements and property lease agreements for the site.