HELENA — On Monday, the City of Helena voted on the proposed improvements to the DeFord trailhead.
After hearing heated testimony from both sides, the city voted 3 to 2 to approve the project, saying the biggest concern is drivers backing blindly into traffic on South Davis Street.
(WATCH: Helena moves forward with DeFord Trailhead Project)
“I think trail improvements in this proposal will make DeFord a more accessible trail to beginners, families, and our aging community," Mayor Emily Dean said.
City officials say that increased traffic has led to several near-miss crashes involving pedestrians, cyclists, and vehicles leaving the parking area.
With the approval, the $70,000 project, including grant assistance for just over $25,000, aims to upgrade and realign portions of the Deford Trail to improve accessibility and create a redesigned parking area with one-way traffic flow, marked parking stalls, and an ADA-accessible space.
“I have to support the parking lot to get people from backing out because that is one fix to a giant pie," Commissioner Ben Rigby noted.
Those who spoke in opposition said they believed the money could have been used on looking at speeds and heavy traffic on the street, and evaluating the area.
Prickly Pear Land Trust, which owns adjacent land, says it does not support the project in its current form.
Mary Hollow, the executive director of PPLT, said, “We think some basic signage to point people to the other parking lot so that people don’t think DeFord is the only spot to park on Davis would probably go a long way.”
One proposed design has the trail crossing through private property that belongs to PPLT and says the city has no easement at this time.
Commissioner Melinda Reed shared, “This feels really uncomfortable for me to think this is the map, except maybe it's not, and we don’t really know what it is going to look like.”
Although the project has been voted to move forward, the trail will need to be rerouted, or work with the Prickly Pear Trust to come to an agreement.
