Taking steps: Tri-City communities are embracing walking trails

Recreational trails have become a popular topic in St. Mary Parish, with government leaders representing Bayou Vista, Amelia and Morgan City pushing for upgrades to their communities.
The leaders noted reasons for the popularity in outdoor exercise while people were idle during the COVID-19 pandemic and improving the quality of life for their citizens.
Morgan City Mayor Lee Dragna, who is preparing to begin work on the first phase of a nearly 17-mile bicycle/walking path through the city, said that people “have gotten way too complacent” by staying inside and not being active with outdoor activities.
While the COVID-19 pandemic drove more people to do outside activities, the city needs to capture that audience.
“We want to keep them outside and not keep them inside playing on their phone or playing video games or whatever,” he said.
Those activities aren’t bad in moderation, but should be mixed in with outdoor activity, he said.
Morgan City recently announced it will receive $350,000 through the Safe Routes to Public Places grant through the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. These funds will be used for a walking and cycling route that will run from downtown to South Central Louisiana Community College’s Young Memorial Campus.
The money will be used for the first phase, which involves making the route from Everett Street to Fourth and Barrow streets safe and in line with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Phase two will connect the Morgan City Municipal Auditorium to Youngs Road by way of Myrtle Street.
Funding for the last portion, the most costly at over $1 million, is being explored.
The trails would be 8 feet wide.
Additionally, the city soon will embark on the BIKE MORGAN CITY phase of its trail that will run from Justa Street along the Auburn levee to La. 70. More than $300,000 in funding will be utilized for the project. St. Mary Excel, a local interest group, wrote grants for the funding. The city also will utilize a $90,000 donation from the H&B Young Foundation.
Recreation trails included in the Morgan City Bike and Pedestrian Master Plan were cited in an Urban Land Institute Study completed in 2018 exploring ways of how to create a new economy between Berwick and Morgan City along the Atchafalaya River. These trails would connect different parts of Morgan City as well as link the city to Berwick’s walking trails.
“Permanent wellness benefits will also enhance the quality of life for the residents of the area,” the ULI study said. “The trails will also enable alternative transportation options for existing residents.”
Potentially using the Long-Allen La. 182 bridge more often once construction is complete, as a pathway to link Morgan City and Berwick, is something Berwick Mayor Duval Arthur said is a possibility.
Dragna said that one of the city’s potential grants would bring a walking trail to Front Street, making it a possibility for residents to use the steps to ascend the bridge. He said, of course, funding would have to be found to erect fencing along the walkway on the bridge to make it safe for everyone to walk across.
Arthur said that Berwick’s years-old trail, which has been expanded through the years, is heavily used daily for exercise, either by cyclists and walkers or just to walk the dog.
“It’s more of a family outing, and that’s what we enjoy seeing,” he said.
The trail is about 6 miles long, Arthur said.
Farther west in Bayou Vista, St. Mary Parish Councilman Scott Ramsey said a walking trail is among the items he is working on.
“It has tremendous support,” he said. “I mean I’ve talked to many, many people, all supporting it, think it’s wonderful. You always got a few naysayers. They’re a small group, but they’re very loud and vocal.”
He noted that it is unsafe to walk on the street, and a walking trail would provide a much safer option for walkers and bicyclists.
Ramsey said a $150,000 grant from the Federal Highway Administration Rec-reation Trail Program for Louisiana the parish is applying for would be used, and the remainder would be paid for through the area’s 3/10th sales tax fund.
“No new taxes, not going to cost anybody a nickel out their pocket,” he said of the citizens.
The trail would be 10 feet wide and marked with one side for bikes and the other for walking.
“Over the years, we’re going to add some amenities to it like rest stations and things of that sort,” he said.
The trail would be built in multiple phases. The first would begin on Jupiter Street and head east on the Middle Road canal right of way to the Teche Road Canal with a bridge crossing the canal. Then, the trail would turn along the Teche Road Canal right of way to Canal Road and then cross the Teche Road Canal via a bridge to Canal Road.
The second phase would be from Jupiter Street southwest to-wards U.S. 90 as far as allowed, and then on the other end of the trail, it would be run from the Teche Road Canal to Southeast Boulevard at Central Park in Bayou Vista. Also included will be a portion of the trail that would run from Teche Road south to around the Cypress RV Park.
A third phase, on an undetermined route, would connect the Bayou Vista and Berwick walking trails. It’s something Ramsey said he has discussed with Arthur.
“So the kids can ride their bikes back and forth to the junior high and high school without getting close to the highway,” Ramsey said.
The project is good for the community and for attracting potential businesses to the area by providing activities for families, Ramsey said.
In Amelia, the goal is to connect the public to the Amelia Recreation Center’s facilities through the trail, St. Mary Parish Chief Administrative Officer Henry “Bo” LaGrange and area Parish Councilman Mark Duhon said.
LaGrange said the trail would be complete in two phases. The first would include the intersection of Duhon Boulevard and Cypress Street along Duhon Boulevard to the Amelia Recreation Center, which is just under a mile.
The second phase would connect from Cypress Street and Duhon Boulevard to the intersection of Barrow Street and Duhon Boulevard, which LaGrange estimated is about a half mile.
He said the total distance of the trail would be from 1.25 to 1.5 miles long.
The first phase would be paid for via a Federal Highway Administration Recreational Trail Program for Louisiana grant the parish is applying for that is valued at $150,000. It also includes local funding that has to be put up.
“It would provide both biking and walking, jogging trail for folks in Amelia to be able to use it and also have a tie-in or connector with the recreational facilities at the Amelia Recreation,” LaGrange said.
Duhon said it is something Amelia needs.
“I have a lot more kids than you think you could get we have in Amelia, and I’m just trying to do something for them to get them to the parks to give them a biking trail and a walking trail and get lights and everything else like that,” he said.
He also said the older generation in Amelia walks, too.