|
Texas Parks & Wildlife Department
<br />Grant Application for Texas Recreational l'rails Fund
<br />11. PROJECT USE AND BENEFITS
<br />Provide in the space below a brief description of the benefits of the proposed project in terms of
<br />the project's quality, geographic scope, recreational needs that are to be rnet, and expected
<br />amount of trail use or population to be served.
<br />The Rail-with-Trail extension wiii provide safe, linear, active transportation accessibility to an even
<br />broader user base, to the proven successfully supported usage of the Trail de Paris Trail, as it will
<br />add another 2,117 residents from GentralNVest Paris of which 427 are of school age and 825
<br />households. The trail is open and free to the 14% of these households that do not own a vehicle.
<br />In this trail expansion targeted area 32.7% of households are below $15,000 annuai income and
<br />50.6% earn below $25,000 annually. Median household income for this area is $24,535. There
<br />are 30,088 residents within a 5-mile radius of the project site.
<br />It will attract the young and old, the healthy and disabied, and serve as a surface transportation
<br />connection to Church Street, the southern boundary of Church Street will serve as a gateway to
<br />the Downtown Historical District with their many recreation, education, and government sites.
<br />This expansion of the Trail will provide direct commuter access to the pedestrian/cycling
<br />community to such destinations as Bywaters Park where the summer Municipal Band concerts
<br />are held, the Paris Public Library and nearby bail fields, Cuibertson Fountain in the center of the
<br />Main Street District, Texas Parks and Wildlife's Historic Sam Bell Maxey Museum, Market Square
<br />where local farmers sell fresh produce, Main Street art galleries, and the Paris skate board park.
<br />This new section of the Trail will be close to museums, and shopping, City Hall, the Lamar Gounty
<br />Courthouse, and the Lamar County Health Department.
<br />Major North, South, east and west entryways to Paris will cross this trail extension.
<br />it will also provide a trailhead for out of town Trail users as State Highways 19 and 24 from the
<br />south and US Hwy. 271 from the north and US Hwy. 82 from the east and west will intersect it via
<br />Main Street. It wili provide incentives for new businesses, such as a bicycle shop, Bed &
<br />Breakfast, RV park/sites, etc. Studies show that the longer a Traii is, the farther people wili travel
<br />to use it, the longer they will stay on it, and the more money they will spend in its vicinity. This
<br />active transportation Trail not only offers recreational, social and health benefits, it brings
<br />economic development and tourism opportunities to this already "economically distressed" Lamar
<br />County area.
<br />This off road recreation trail network will provide a safe learning environment to teach and
<br />improve our children's bicycling skills, so they can bicycle to school and recreation facilities. The
<br />trail runs through the Paris Junior College Campus and is connected to the Paris Sports Compfex
<br />and Love Civic Center giving these residents off road access to these facilities and their
<br />educational, social, governmental, and sports events and programs. The Paris Police
<br />Department is located adjacent to the trail system and has been directly linked to it for easy
<br />safety and security access. These are some of the community events that have been held on the
<br />Trail: Tour de Paris Bicycle Rally, Run for the Arts and Casa for Kids Fun Run and Walk, Dallas
<br />Area Tandem Bike Rally, American Heart Association and Red River pown Syndrome Fund
<br />Raising Walks, Paris & NL ISD biologyfield trips.
<br />Socially, this active transportation Trail has developed an enhanced awareness of the
<br />surrounding environment and support opportunities to interact with other trail users. It's a place
<br />that will form renewed connections between residents with face-to-face encounters and a friendly
<br />"hello" along the way. A sense of community has emerged with the addition of the Trail de Paris
<br />to our area. Individuals and groups have a safe and accessible place to exercise and familiar
<br />faces are spotted on the trail daily.
<br />The Trail de Paris active transportation Trail is buildin; desti.natinns.
<br />5
<br />
|