Park and Recreation receives $1 million grant for Bachman Lake Park Trail renovations

Dallas Park and Recreation has received a $1 million Texas Parks and Wildlife Urban Outdoor Grant to renovate the Bachman Lake Park Trail. The grant will be matched by 2012 bond funds for a total project cost of nearly $3 million.

Planned renovations include removal of the deteriorating eight-foot asphalt trail on the south side of the lake and replacing it with a 12-foot wide concrete trail. Nine historic Civilian Conservation Corps stations will also be renovated and parking, additional seating, a drinking fountain, interpretive signage, wildflower and wetland plantings, exercise stations and an overlook providing dramatic views of Love Field airplane arrivals over the lake.

When funding becomes available the Park Department has plans for the final phase of the Bachman Lake Park Trail: a pedestrian bridge over the east end of the lake. The bridge will connect the trails on the north and south side of the lake via a traffic-free 5K loop trail which will access the Bachman Recreation Center and all other park amenities.

The recently adopted master plan for the nearby 10-mile Elm Fork Greenbelt calls for an off-road trail connection to Bachman Lake Park. Once funding becomes available to implement this master plan, park users will have access from Bachman Lake Park to the Elm Fork, Campion Trail in Arlington, Trinity River Trails and eventually downtown Dallas.