Phase One for 5K Heritage Trail Gearing Up

August 3, 2017

By Linda Provost The Duncan Banner

The aerial view of the proposed trails are color coded by phases; the red line is the first phase of the plan, which should start construction in spring of 2018.

The 5K Heritage Trails project, which connects parks and community fixtures such as the Simmons Center, Duncan Regional Hospital, Duncan Public Schools and the Chisholm Trail Heritage Center, has been a Duncan dream since 2007.

The Heritage Trail coalition is made up of members of many of the fixtures which will be connected by the trail, as well as community members. 

Scott Stone, chair of the Heritage Trail coalition, said the first phase of the trail is amping up. The first phase of the project will connect the Simmons Center, through the Heritage Center property and down Whisenant past the hospital and Horace Mann elementary all the way to Whisenant Park. 

“That’s what we call phase one, that has been approved … we have obtained an…Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) grant and we’re in the process of finalizing the design and specifications work. The timeframe on that is that we hope to get everything ODOT needs in order to put the contract out for bid hopefully sometime this fall,” Stone said. “So they can put …the bid package put on, have it bid on and have a contract signed. We’re hopeful that construction of the first phase can begin sometime next spring. Once it begins, it will not take very long complete the project on that phase.” 

The grant was awarded last year around August, according to Stone. 

“Phase one … will cost approximately 1 million dollars to construct,” he said. “The ODOT grant is going to provide approximately $800,000 dollars and then we already have matching funds to provide the rest.” 

Stone said there is no City of Duncan money being used the on trails, it was all funded completely by donations and fundraising, with Duncan Regional Hospital and The McCasland Foundation as the two largest contributors. 

“Whenever we have governmental money being used, they have a process that they have to [follow] that guarantees [things like;] the money is place, it’s going to be done, we have the matching funds, so it’s going to be done,  but everything [has] to be done in the proper manner, so we’re kind of jumping through those hoops.” 

The trails have been a working project for a long time and are meant to be a place to help the health of Duncan and be used by all citizens.

“The trails are something that are pretty non-controversial because there are so many different types of people that use them, whether that be older people all the way down to the youngest people and …also they’re free, folks can come and park at the Simmons Center, or the hospital or Horace Mann and be able to access these trails at no charge to them, it becomes a community asset,” Stone said. “They will be multi-use trails, meaning they’re going to … be built with a hard surface that will allow bikes, will allow all sorts of running and walking … they’ll be handicapped accessible and useable. So all the folks in Duncan will have access to those and we’re excited that we’ll …eventually be able to have 5K races and runs that will be able to [be] utilized.” 

Some of the long standing 5k races are currently hosted on streets that have to be blocked off, but by moving events to the trail, runners will be safer from traffic and vehicles will not be detoured. 

“A lot of folks, runners and walkers, use Chisholm Trail Parkway and Elk as .. their course but they are out there in the street,” said Stone. “So this is going to provide a safe place, off the street for folks who are already out there jogging, running, or walking to use once we get everything connected.” 

Stone said the Simmons Center Foundation conducts the fundraising and they are also the administrators of the trails. 

The second phase is the area near the Simmons Center. The Heritage Center will add a “nature garden,” which will contain lots of greenery, public art and the donor wall for the trail. This phase is still in fundraising stages.