Durant hopes to turn train tracks into a walking trail

DURANT, Okla. (KXII) -After almost a decade of continuous effort from Durant city leaders and the community, a new pedestrian walking trail is coming to fruition.

It all started in 2015 when the city applied for a grant for their Rails to Trails Project, turning abandoned train tracks into a walking trail.

But they soon found out that they needed more money to make that happen.

“It’s just really exciting that we were able to locate the different funding sources so that we can make this a reality,” said Grant Coordinator Rebecca Payne.

By 2016, the city received a grant through the Oklahoma Department of Transportation of almost $400 thousand.

Their goal was to turn the abandoned railway on the east side of Hwy 48 into a walking trail.

“And then the community raised almost $100,000 as the match and unfortunately that just wasn’t enough,” Payne said.

The city wanted to connect the south and north sides of the trail with the Chuckwa Creek bridge, which put them way over budget. So to come up with even more funds, “we applied for another grant through Oklahoma Tourism Office for $240,000.”

In 2022, the city applied for one last grant of $674 thousand which was funded this year, “with the recent grant, we now have $1.4 million. And this should be able to complete the project.”

Payne says the whole trail is under a mile long, “there’ll be two trailheads. The south side will be at the Southeastern Visual and Performing Arts Center. And then it will cross Chuckwa Creek on a 200 foot span bridge and connect on the north side with the trailhead near the softball complex.”

And the trail will be accessible for all to enjoy, “the trail is planned for ten foot wide. It will be a solid surface, so for wheelchair bound citizens, they’ll be able to access that,” Payne said.

The 2017 Durant Master Trails Plan mapped out for the trail to connect to the others within the city, with construction beginning in January.

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