More construction on the Animas River Trail is on the way.
Contractors are expected to begin work on an extension through Animas City Park on the north side of 32nd Street next week, according to Scott McClain, the trail construction manager and landscape architect for the city of Durango.
This will be in addition to work begun this week on a trail extension through Memorial Park from 29th to 32nd streets.
Like work at Memorial Park, work will be done in phases so people can still access parts of Animas City Park while other parts of the park are closed for construction.
The project will extend the river trail to just short of Bennet Street. In a future construction project, the trail will drop down the hillside to be level with the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad track.
Within the next few years, the city would like to build a pedestrian bridge across the river about a block south of the 32nd Street bridge as well as a pedestrian bridge over 32nd Street, from the recycling station behind the north City Market to Animas City Park.
Because 32nd Street is at a lower grade than the park and the south side of the street with the recycling center, officials don’t anticipate that the bridge will have to be built very high over 32nd Street.
The 32nd Street bridge project is a few years off because design work on the river bridge is not expected to begin until next year, with construction to begin in 2015, McClain said.
Officials want a pedestrian river bridge because they feel the 32nd Street bridge is too narrow for pedestrian and bicycle traffic.
The city plans to complete construction of the trail through Memorial and Animas City parks this fall, with landscaping finished in the spring.
The pump house and river-intake infrastructure will be removed at 29th Street during the Memorial Park work.
In another project, the city expects to begin work on improvements to the Whitewater Park at Santa Rita Park in December.
jhaug@durangoherald.com
