Denver parks officials outline Bear Creek trail and picnic-area upgrades

Denver Department of Parks and Recreation staff on Tuesday presented design plans to realign a regional trail through Bear Creek Park, add a new pedestrian bridge on the park’s west side and build a separate picnic-area project, and they invited public comment ahead of final design.The projects are intended to reduce conflicts between people walking and bicycling, improve safety near the creek and activate the park’s south side, project manager Adam Linn said. “Estoy emocionado de ver este trabajo que se inicia,” he told attendees while introducing the team and the project goals.Staff walked through maps showing the current east–west trail and the proposed new alignment on the south side of the creek. The trail design calls for a 12-foot-wide paved trail with three-foot vegetated buffers on each side, new connections to adjacent neighborhoods, and one or more new crossings of low-water channels and a longer pedestrian bridge at a constrained gap in the trees. Presenters said they will try to avoid impacts to large, mature trees and will replace trees where removal is necessary.The city quoted a roughly $4.5 million construction estimate for the trail phase. Staff said about $1.25 million comes from federal funds, a conservation partner is contributing $1 million, and Parks and Recreation’s share is about $2.25 million. Design is expected to proceed over the coming years; staff said NPS-related reviews will add time and that the team hopes to begin construction in 2026. "This will be a betteramiento para la seguridad," Linn said, stressing safety for families and children.Elizabeth Mila, the DPR project administrator for the picnic-area effort, described a parallel Phase 1B project that would add accessible picnic pads, shade structures, tables, grills and trash receptacles near the park’s north parking area. She said design work began in June, the design is anticipated to be completed in 2024, and construction is targeted to start in 2025 with completion the following fall. The picnic-area budget was described at about $850,000.Staff outlined outreach steps: popup events at the north parking lot in mid-July (a tentative July 11 date was mentioned), a public comment window (staff cited a comment period ending June 30), and a project webpage with design materials and contact information. "Tendremos estos diseños publicada en esa página de web; mi contacto información de contacto está aquí," Linn said during the presentation.In a question-and-answer session, Councilmember Flen asked about a west-side bridge that had been closed for inspection. Project staff said high water during the inspection limited early assessments but follow-up inspections showed conditions were not as severe as initially feared; staff did not say the bridge will be removed as part of this phase. Lyric, a meeting participant, asked for clarification about the ‘‘low-water crossing’’ and was told it would be a concrete structure roughly 15–20 feet wide with side guards and a recovery distance, not a tall elevated bridge.Participants also raised concerns about trail width, separation of bicycles and pedestrians, and impacts to trees. Staff said the proposed 12-foot shared-use trail responds to projected growth and current and future use but that separated facilities could be considered in later phases. On lighting, staff described an intermittent solar-lighting plan that will be programmable to dim overnight to reduce wildlife impacts; they said a vendor selection process is underway and a contracting item will be scheduled with the city in coming months.The meeting closed with staff promising to post designs, accept emailed comments and incorporate community input into the final design. No formal votes or council actions were taken at the session; staff said they will return with more design milestones and a final review meeting in the fall.