LITTLETON —Littleton unwrapped a long-awaited, $1.5-million birthday present this year, and officials are hoping residents will embrace the gift as a means to get around town sans motorized vehicles.
The Littleton Community Trail was dedicated March 8 as part of the city’s .
The 2.6-mile path, paved in some places but mostly fine-crushed gravel, snakes along the east side of the railroad tracks at the center of town, following the historic city ditch as it connects Belleview and Cornerstone parks in the north with Lower Ridgewood Park in the south.
Along the way, it passes through Historic Downtown Littleton and near popular city amenities including the Douglas H. Buck Community Recreation Center and the Depot Arts Gallery, almost entirely in a 10-foot-wide, bike-friendly format that allows users to largely avoid busy intersections and car traffic.
Not as scenic as its western cousin, the Mary Carter Greenway Trail — which also runs north to south but on the opposite side of the railroad tracks and Santa Fe Drive, along the banks of the South Platte River — the Littleton Community Trail has been described by Littleton City Manager Michael Penny as an urban trail.
“What we are doing is taking a developed community and improving its walk-ability and bike-ability in essence, and this is a key component of that,” Penny said.
Littleton kicked in a comparatively modest $200,000 to the total $1,515,000 cost of construction and property acquisition necessary to build the trail. The project required bargaining with the BNSF Railway and a private landowner, officials said.
Other significant funding sources included $500,000 from the nonprofit Great Outdoors Colorado, just under $500,000 from Arapahoe County Open Space and $250,000 from the South Suburban Parks and Recreation District. .
South Suburban officials see the path as an enhancement to the district-wide.
With connections to the larger, regional Lee Gulch and Big Dry Creek trails, the Littleton Community Trail provides plenty of opportunities for users to take long trips that take them well beyond the city borders, South Suburban Planning Director Brett Collins said. Using the Mary Carter, Lee Gulch and Big Dry Creek trails, users can also embark on a 6-mile loop hike using the path, Collins said.
“Loop trails and better access to regional trail connections are popular with trail users, and South Suburban supports development of trails that provide this type of amenity,” he wrote in an e-mail.
The newly christened trail had just a handful of users on a recent sunny afternoon.
Glenn Oliveira jogged on the path March 10 after hearing about it from a friend. The Littleton resident said he had no idea the city and South Suburban had been building the trail, the southern terminus of which is not far from his Crescent Drive home.
“I had no idea this was new. I’m just on it because a lot of the other paths are muddy,” he said. “I think it’s nice.”
Littleton City Councilwoman Debbie Brinkman recently expressed her excitement about the trail. She can already see the great opportunities it will provide for users as the weather warms.
“It’s part of connecting trail use to community activities,” she said. “It’s about being able to have a picnic lunch in Cornerstone Park and get on a trail that keeps you and your kids off the road and gets you downtown to go to a nice ice cream shop.
“I think any time you’re able to create something that allows your community to develop those experiences, particularly outdoors, it’s always a benefit.”
Joe Rubino: 303-954-2953, jrubino@denverpost.com or twitter.com/RubinoJC
