By JAMES BELL
Hays Post
VICTORIA — Originally a small part of a much larger project, a proposed multi-use Greenway Trail that would snake through the city of Victoria — connecting the community’s parks, schools and landmarks — continues to gain steam.
During the last city council meeting, Victoria Recreation Commission board member Sean Rodger and the owner of the former Victoria rest home, Jeff Pfeifer, shared the latest with the council and asked for its support to continue pursuing the idea as they look to move forward, including sourcing potential grant funds for the project.
But as the plans and proposals were brought to Victoria residents, the pathway plan took on a life of its own.
And with potential state funding available for the city to begin the pathway project in the near future, Rodger and Pfeifer asked the council to submit a Kansas Department of Transportation Transportation Alternatives grant proposal that potential fund the bulk of the project, while conversations about a community center and the rest home continue.
“With talking this through with members of the community, this kind of picked up a little bit more steam,” Rodger said. “And with the community center being slower moving, I feel like this could be something that would be beneficial to the community.”
He said he was a fan of the idea after initially hearing it, as a part of the proposals for the former rest home, but realized it could come to fruition much sooner than other potential parts of either project.
“When Jeff pitched the idea, like four years down the road, it's actually kind of comes more to the forefront of something that could be seen sooner rather than later,” Rodger said.
"There has been growing excitement, expressing the need for a multi-use pathway that would loop around and through the town," Pfeifer said. "This loop would connect all the amenities Victoria has to offer, such as Victoria's elementary school, junior and senior high school, the St. Fidelis Basilica, two existing playgrounds, municipal pool, outdoor recreational practice facilities, and central business district."
The rec commission voted in the fall of last year to propose the trail, and outlined their reasoning in the grant application.
"The intent was to substantially improve the ability of students to walk and bike to school using an exclusive multi-use bicycle and pedestrian trail separated from roadways," the application said. "Placing the trail in open space would eliminate many conflicts with vehicles, driveways, curbs, etc., providing a much safer route. In addition to student use, the pathways would be open to the general public, adding recreational, fitness, entertainment, relaxation and wellness opportunities."
The proposal also explains the reasoning behind aligning the trail project with the KDOT Safe Routes to Schools program.
"The decision to utilize open space for Safe Routes to School was for several reasons, including: 1) much of the open space in town is already in public ownership (City or USD 432), 2) it provides safe separation from vehicle traffic, and 3) it encourages the exposure to and interaction with nature and the outdoors," the application said.
In an effort to push the trail plan forward, Rodger asked the council to approve the submission of the grant proposal.
With the rec commission’s status as a nonprofit, he told the council the application would need to be submitted by the city, but would require no effort by the city government as the commission would complete all required work.
“They're just looking for proposals,” Rodger said. “At that point, they approve it. They would give information and their feedback back to us for an actual proposal. (Then) we'd have to get an engineer involved to kind of go through layouts and all that stuff. But no money upfront, just a plan.”
Prior to the city meeting, he said the school board had already voted to support the measure.
Pfeifer said that through two community meetings about the future of the rest home, and other planning meetings he has heard firsthand that Victoria residents are “pretty excited” about the trail.
“This is something new,” he said. “This is like the playground, the swimming pool, the school playground, the park playground. It's bringing something new to town, something that is not even just single generational.”
While the long-term planning remains flexible for the trail, he said, to be considered for the Transportation Alternatives grant, the basic plan and descriptions were needed to begin the grant application process.
If awarded to the city, the grant would cover 80 percent of the cost, with the community matching 20 percent.
And he said he feels like the grant has a good chance at being awarded.
“They're pretty eager to do a project in western Kansas for smaller communities under 5,000,” Pfeifer said, and he had confirmed the project was eligible for receiving the funds according to KDOT.
While the application would open the potential for funding for the project, it would also not lock the city into moving forward.
With two years before the next round of Transportation Alternatives grant applications will begin, and no commitment required at the present time, the council agreed and the proposal was submitted.
Pfeifer said the city has yet to hear back from KDOT, but if accepted the full Transportation Alternatives grant application would be due on May 14.