One of Dallas’ newest trails is well on its way to completion and is being touted as “the most significant trail undertaking in North Texas.”
The LOOP Dallas is an urban trail project that will link the city’s northern, southern, eastern, and western parts. One of its objectives is to reconnect communities allegedly isolated from economic opportunities due to transportation infrastructure, per the project’s website.
Dallas officials gathered on October 21 to introduce the first phase of the Trinity Forest Spine Trail.
The Trinity Forest Spine Trail is a collaborative project with The LOOP Dallas, KCS Railroad, the City of Dallas, and the Circuit Trail Conservancy to create a public trail through the White Rock Creek corridor and the Trinity floodplain.
Philip Hiatt Haigh, executive director for Circuit Trail Conservancy and The LOOP, explained in a press release that construction of the trail would provide “unprecedented access to green space and economic opportunity by connecting thousands of Dallasites through multimodal transportation.”
“Building a reliable trail through the White Rock Creek Floodplain will turn this overlooked corridor into one of the most significant greenbelts in North Texas, activating green space as trail users marvel at the beauty of historic trees and the waterways of White Rock Lake and the Trinity River,” said Haigh, per the release.
Dallas community leaders and members of the public gathered for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of the first section of the Trinity Forest Spine Trail.
Renee Johnson, assistant director of Dallas Park and Recreation, said the trail has been a collaboration decades in the making.
“This section of the Trinity Forest Spine Trail is the first phase toward the completion of the 50-mile loop that will reconnect communities and provide access to the larger Dallas trail system, parks, and the great Trinity Forest, and regional destinations such as the Trinity River Autobahn Center in White Rock Lake,” said Johnson.
Council Member Paula Blackmon (District 9) said she and other leaders stressed the community’s need for such a trail following the COVID-19 pandemic. She said the “whole idea” behind the trail was to connect neighborhoods and create a system through which residents can engage.
“The Trinity Forest Spine Trail is that example of continuing to expand one of our greatest assets for our residents, our parks, and our trails because we saw after the pandemic that people wanted this. They needed this,” said Blackmon during the ceremony.
