The Museum Trail, a multi-use path that will stretch from downtown Jackson to Lakeland Drive, is about halfway complete.
The trail will connect the Mississippi Farmers Market and Two Mississippi Museums in downtown Jackson to the parks and museums that comprise the LeFleur Museum District on Museum Boulevard.
Construction on the $1.6 million project began in July, moving ahead the project that has been in the works for about 10 years.
Bureaucracy, the acquisition of rights-of-way, the need for additional fundraising after the initial push and the installation of a water line slowed the project, which has stretched through the terms of four Jackson mayors and brought together local, state and neighborhood leaders plus numerous community partners.
Depending upon the weather, the trail could be completed by the end of the year, said Chad Toles, project engineer for Neel-Schaffer, who emphasized that weather plays a key role in finishing a project especially during the last few months of the year. Hemphill Construction is the contractor.
As part of the project, sidewalks are being widened along Mississippi Street to Jefferson Street to Spengler Street and that work is mostly done, except for the handicap ramps, Toles said.
Grading is almost complete along a portion of the trail where it follows along the old GM&O rail line located behind what was Dave’s Triple B Barbecue on High Street and from there goes off road, he said.
A pre-made bridge remains to be installed along the trail before asphalt can be added to the off-road portion of the route that begins behind the former Dave’s Triple B Barbecue and extends to Laurel Street near the water treatment plant. The trail continues from Laurel Street as a “signed bike route” along Myrtle Street, before turning onto Riverside Drive and then onto Museum Drive.
Dr. Clay Hays Jr., a volunteer and advocate for the trail, checks on the progress of construction often. “I’ve been down there every week just to see how it’s coming,” he said.
Debris remains from when the trail was used as an illegal dumping ground and volunteers are needed to remove it during a clean-up day on Oct. 24, he said.
Volunteers should meet at 9 a.m. at the Laurel Street Park. The city of Jackson will provide dumpsters and wheelbarrows will be available to haul debris from the trail.
The project is funded 80 percent by a Transportation Enhancement Grant from the Mississippi Department of Transportation and 20 percent by the city of Jackson and private donations.
Fundraising is ongoing with the goal of raising an additional $50,000 for amenities such as lighting, water fountains and benches that would be placed along the trail, Hays said.
David Pharr of Jackson, a lawyer and advocate for the trail, recalls running along the rail line that is now part of the trail when he was a student at Millsaps College in the 1990s. When serving on the Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership in the early 2000s, Pharr and Hays talking about running and cycling on the multi-use trail in Ridgeland creating something similar in Jackson.
Now that the trail will soon be completed, Pharr said there’s a sense of relief and excitement about how it can evolve and eventually be expanded. He envisions areas along the trail enhanced with public art, sculpture and landscaping.
“It’s going to be an ongoing project,” he said. “We’ll raise money for maintenance.”
Pharr said he has no doubt the trail will have an impact. “It would be an extreme outlier if it didn’t have an impact based on what we’ve seen throughout the world,” he said, naming the Longleaf Trail that extends from Hattiesburg to Prentiss and the Atlanta Beltline Trails as two successful trail projects.
Pharr, who is interested in finding ways to attract and retain talent, said the Museum Trail will help. “People are drawn to cities with these networks,” he said.
Donations may be made online at Jxntrailblazers.com. Checks may be mailed to the Jackson Heart Foundation, which is a nonprofit supporting health and wellness, at P.O. Box 5021, Jackson, MS 39296. Indicate on the check the donation is for the Museum Trail.
