What happened
Members of City Council, the Dallas Park and Recreation Department, and The Loop Dallas held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Oct. 21 to celebrate the opening of part of the Trinity Forest Spine Trail.
The new trail, which is being constructed in two phases—a 4-mile north phase and a 3.5-mile south phase—will connect the Santa Fe Trail at White Rock Lake to the Trinity Forest trail system once completed.
Two miles of the north phase opened for use in the spring, but city leaders waited until fall weather for an official opening ceremony, said Philip Hiatt Haigh, executive director of The Loop Dallas, the city’s nonprofit partner in creating the trail. The completed 2-mile section runs from the Santa Fe Trail near the south tip of White Rock Lake to Samuell Boulevard, he said.
The backstory
The Trinity Forest Spine Trail is part of a project called The Loop Dallas that will connect many of Dallas’ trails into a contiguous 50-mile urban trail. Overall, the $85 million project will link 39 miles of the city’s existing trails with 11 miles of four newly built trails, including the Trinity Forest Spine Trail.
By connecting every section of Dallas through a continuous trail, The Loop is meant to connect residents to amenities, such as the lake, restaurants, forests, farms and more around the city, Hiatt Haigh previously told Community Impact.
Stay tuned
The next 2-mile section of the trail’s north phase, which will continue the trail from Samuell Boulevard to the Trinity Forest Trail system, will begin construction at the beginning of 2024, Hiatt Haigh said. The south phase is also planned for construction in the first quarter of 2024, he added.
Both segments of the trail are expected to be completed in 12-24 months, depending on weather conditions, Hiatt Haigh said.
