New Trails at DeVictor Park in Lawrence. There are two new recreational trails at the new DeVictor Park located across from Langston Hughes School on George Williams Way in West Lawrence.
The trails are not complete but of interest to the public. One section is concrete and goes through a fairly scenic area, including through a narrow valley along side a strip of native prairie. Another longer section is crushed limestone and goes primarily behind new houses. A few householders have encroached upon the trail right-of-way. Plus, curb cuts still need to be installed where it crosses streets and the treadway itself is uneven and lumpy making for a bumpy bike ride but satisfactory walk. Once these problems are taken care of, the trails should be another community asset.
Landon Trail Construction Starts. Construction has started on the Landon Trail within the city limits of Topeka. It has been exactly 20 years ago this year that Larry Ross of Wichita, Marc Coan Of Taos, NM and Clark Coan of Lawrence first started working on the Landon Trail Project. Clearly this shows that persistence and patience eventually pays off.
If the City's 4.8-mile section is completed by the end of the year, trail users will be able to go all the way from the Brown v. Board of Education Nat'l Hist Site (17th & Monroe Sts.) to the village of Berryton and beyond (possibly to the Clinton Wildlife Area). The Landon Trail Division of the Kanza Rail-Trails Conservancy is building the trail from the Topeka city limits southeast toward the Clinton Wildlife Area.
The contractor is Joe Conroy and earth moving is underway. According to previous plans much of the trail in the city limits will be concrete and part will be crushed limestone.
Bikes Collide, Killing One. A collision between two bicyclists on the new Lake Shawnee Trail in Topeka left one dead and one severely injured. Apparently, the bicyclists, who were both in their 50s, were riding down a steep, six-foot-wide incline when they collided and then the woman bicyclist hit her head on the concrete. Neither bicyclist was wearing a helmet. A fatality due to two bicyclists colliding is fairly rare.