We are thrilled to see new connections and repairs to begin this month throughout Billings!
Thanks to grant funding provided by the Recreational Trails Program and the Trail Stewardship Program, plus donations from donors through Billings TrailNet, Billings’ trails will get a facelift.
Big Ditch Trail Extension
This project will extend the Big Ditch Trail as far to the west along the Big Ditch as possible before the ditch turns south toward Grand Avenue.
Rose Park Rehab and New Connections
- connect Rose Park Elementary School with neighborhoods – most notably the apartment complexes on and around Avenue C west of Rose Park.
- provide recreational walking, riding, rolling, and running for more than half a mile parallel to the BBWA Canal.
- allow residents north of the Canal to access Rose Park (via a pedestrian bridge) without needing to cross streets.
- provide residents and visitors with access to the northern section of Rose Park.
Resurfacing the Arnold Drain Trail at Lillis Park
Billings TrailNet partnered with the Parks Department and Living Independently for Today and Tomorrow (LIFTT) on a project to repave the trail which parallels Lillis Ln, just south of Grand Avenue. The current trail is cracked and has bollards on either side of bridge over Arnold Drain Ditch, which prevent people in wheelchairs from crossing the bridge and accessing the trail and Lillis Park. The project also includes adding curb cuts and ADA ramps at Lillis Park, an ADA accessible picnic table plus directional signs and mileage markers along the trail.
These projects have been funded in part by the Recreational Trails Program, which is a federally funded grants program that supports Montana’s trails.
The RTP funds come from the Federal Highway Trust Fund and represent a portion of the motor fuel excise tax collected from nonhighway recreational fuel use: fuel used for off-highway recreation by snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles, off-highway motorcycles, and off-highway light trucks.
Billings strives to find funding to build and maintain trails.
These projects are not only important connections, these trails are mostly FREE to Billings, as Recreational Trails pays about 80% of the cost of the projects and Billings TrailNet has committed to paying 20% of the cost of each of these project, for a total of $149,000 for these thre projects:
- $52,000 to rebuild the trail at Lillis Park
- $32,000 to build and repair trails at Rose Park
- $65,000 to connect a new neighborhood to the Big Ditch Trail. We thank Weave Industries for providing a portion of the donation for this project.