City of Pueblo takes step toward improving biking and hiking trails at Lake Minnequa

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) -- The City of Pueblo is working towards improving Lake Minnequa, transforming the space for bicyclists and hikers. According to officials, this is part of a larger plan to make the city's network of trails more connected.

According to the Pueblo Public Works Department, the new Lake Minnequa Connecter Trail Project will construct a concrete multi-use trail to connect Minnequa Lake Trail to Pueblo Boulevard.

The trail will be located adjacent to the drainage ditch, from Minnequa Lake, traveling west to Alma Avenue before going south to Pueblo Boulevard. The Public Works Department and Pueblo Parks and Recreation are working with Dibble Corporation and Norris Des, the project's consultants.

The Engineering Manager for the City of Pueblo, Charles Roy, said this project was always a part of the city's master plan.

"We have a pedestrian and bike master plan for the city of Pueblo, and this is one piece of that..connecting up the major transportation networks and streets with the city Pubelo blvd., Prairie Ave. Those are huge connectors, and they connect that over to Lake Minnequa where there's already a well-established trail system," said Charles Roy.

Roy said this project was submitted for a CDOT grant, and the city was granted $1.4 million to start the design of phases 1 and 2 and the construction of phase 1 of the project.

Roy said the project was submitted as a multimodal transportation fund to support the increase of mobility within the City of Pueblo. With this project, he said he hopes to increase overall walkability within the city.

"So the people could I ideally go from one side of the city on a bike if they wanted to all to the other side of the city," said Charles Roy.

On July 12, the City of Pueblo is inviting community members for an overview and input session of the Prairie to Minnequa Lake Connector Trail Project.

The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at the South High School cafeteria. Everyone in the Pueblo community is welcome to join and see a presentation and discussion of the project.

"This meeting is more for information and awareness about what's coming through your backyard. It's going to improve the ugliness of the ditch that's currently there. There is a lot of trash and a lot of bad things on this trail on the ditch, and this is going to create a nice walking path for people to commute within their neighborhood," said Charles Roy.

The construction of the project is expected to begin in the fall of 2022 with an anticipated completion date of the spring of 2023.