The City of Kirksville has applied for a grant from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to construct a .3 mile trail to connect the sidewalks of downtown Kirksville to what will be a new Forest Lake Area Trail System trailhead.
The grant, offered through the Recreational Trails Program, funds up to $150,000 and requires a 20 percent match from the recipient. The city submitted the application Feb. 16, and if the city receives the grant, the city estimates the total cost to be about $148,000.
Assistant City Manager Ashley Young said the section of the trail which the City of Kirksville is applying for will connect the city’s existing sidewalk system to Thousand Hills State Park’s existing trail system. Young said the trail will run from the 300 block of West Washington Street — along the southern edge of Forest-Llewellyn Cemetery — and cross Osteopathy Street, connecting it to the new FLATS trailhead at the intersection of Osteopathy and Missouri streets.
Young said if the grant application is accepted, the impact on Kirksville residents should be minimal during the trail’s construction because the city wouldn’t necessarily have to close West Washington Street to do the work, and if it did, it would only be for a short period of time.
The city applied for the same grant last year and did not receive it.
For more information about the status of FLATS, pick up a copy of The Index on Feb. 22.