FOLEY – Access to Beulah Heights Park will soon be even better with new lighting and sidewalks added to the area’s combined street extension and walking trail.
The Foley City Council recently approved funding for the additional improvements.
Mayor Ralph Hellmich said the project began in response to resident requests to open a right of way leading to the park.
“There was a little dirt road that served some people who lived along that right of way,” Hellmich said. “Over the years, they asked that we complete that road. So we completed the road for the distance. The first section is a regular road with a sidewalk, then it converts to a multi-use path that ends at Beulah Heights Park.”
To preserve the area’s large oak trees, part of the route was developed as a walking and biking path instead of a full street.
“There were a lot of scenic oak trees on that right of way, really big ones, and residents didn’t want them removed, so we created a multi-use path,” Hellmich said. “It’s a nice project.”
The trail is designed to prevent vehicle access while providing safe passage for pedestrians and cyclists.
“They lined it up where a car won’t see that path and try to go down it,” Hellmich said. “It’s set up so that people won’t think it’s a shortcut.”
The latest phase of the project will install lighting along the route and complete additional sidewalk sections.
“We did not have lights on this road,” Hellmich said. “We would like to add those to the road and finish out the sidewalks.”