$2.2 million Dragonfly Trails project to ‘improve quality of life’ in Columbus
Community leaders broke ground Friday on the Dinglewood Park Trail, a $2.2 million project that, when complete, will further activate a green space in midtown Columbus and better connect users to their community and each other.
“This trail is so important because not only does it improve the quality of life for residents in our community, but it also attracts tourism,” said Becca Zajac, executive director of Dragonfly Trails Inc.
She said the Dinglewood Park Trail is a one-mile connection, the first of three, that will connect midtown to the entire Dragonfly Trails system. Two more are planned and under design. The Dragonfly Trails network has 34 miles of connected trails, linking users to destinations around Columbus.
This section starts in Dinglewood Park, 1660 13th St., next to the MidTown Children’s Bicycle Playground, which opened in March.
Julio Portillo, executive director of MidTown Inc., told the audience they chose Dinglewood Park as the location for the bicycle playground because of its proximity to the Dragonfly Trails.
“It was important for us to know that users would have access to the trail, to the bike park, and now this bicycle playground will further activate the space and will prepare families and young riders to safely use the larger trail network,” he said.
Portillo said the trail will make midtown more accessible, livable and vibrant.
“It reflects persistence, alignment and a commitment to turning Dragonfly Trails’ master plan into a tangible infrastructure,” he said. “It demonstrates what’s possible when public and private partners work together towards a common goal.”
Columbus Mayor Skip Henderson told the audience he is excited about the multifaceted aspect of the trails.
“They are economic development,” Henderson said. “They’re going to be connectors. They’re going to get the neighborhoods connected with some of the retail stores and the restaurants, but they’re also quality of life issues because now the neighbors can just go out and get connected to the Dragonfly Trails, ride bikes. They can ride skateboards. They can walk if they’re too scared to get on anything with less than four wheels like me.”
Zajac said after the ceremony city arborists and landscape architects will evaluate the trees in Dinglewood Park so the project’s design will minimize the trail’s impact on the park’s trees.
“Of course, we’re going to try to save all (trees) that we can,” she said, “and then also we do have in our landscaping plan bringing back more trees and more beautiful landscaping to protect our environment.”
Zajac said prep work should be done in the next few weeks, with dirt beginning to move by the start of June. She said barring any major issues with equipment or weather delays, construction should take about a year.
“Projects like this that change the quality of life for citizens in Columbus are not possible without a ton of partners,” Zajac said, “We work hand in hand with the city to do these projects, but there’s also Georgia Power, Columbus Waterworks, MidTown Inc. and stakeholders all up and down this corridor that have helped us get to where we are today. We are so thankful to the communities and all our partners that help us bring this project alive.”
