By Josh Siatkowski | Staff Writer
Part of Baylor’s Bear Trail loop is being reconstructed this semester, as a 2200-foot stretch of gravel near the BSB is being replaced with wider and more weather-resistant concrete.
Construction began in late January, and completion of the first stint is expected shortly after spring break, Construction Project Manager AJ Mueller said.
The 2.25-mile Bear Trail around campus is mostly concrete, but three-fourths of a mile between the Dutton Garage and the intersection of Second Street and Bagby Avenue is a softer decomposed granite surface that narrows to just a few feet in some spots. Construction Project Manager AJ Mueller said that about two-thirds of that stretch is currently being upgraded to an 8-foot-wide concrete sidewalk, while the remaining third near Dutton Garage is tentatively scheduled for the same work.
Mueller cited the safety of the existing granite after rainstorms, along with plans for campus beautification, as some of the reasons behind the project.
“[The surface] was decomposed granite,” Mueller said. “After many years of it being there, it starts to pose a safety issue. So we went back and had an engineer design something that’s able to look, obviously, beautiful and pretty when it’s done, but to be able to shed the water off of it.”
Initial feedback, Mueller said, has been positive.
“I’ve had a handful of people stop and say it looks really good, and they’re excited to be able to run on it,” Mueller said.
Students like Texarkana freshman Austyn Lilly agree. Lilly, who tries to walk the Bear Trail every day, said she prefers the new concrete for its better traction. She also appreciates the widening, since she often has to step off the trail when runners pass her.
For avid runners like Spring senior Matthewes Berhane, the repaving is mostly positive with one tradeoff. Berhane, who runs six days a week and includes the Bear Trail in many of his workouts, will miss the lower-impact gravel for his easier, shorter runs.
“I was actually a fan of [the old surface] because whenever you’re doing 60 to 80 miles a week and you’re running on concrete, it’s sometimes nice to have gravel just so the impact is less, and it’s not as bad on the knees,” Berhane said.
But for now, some of the softer decomposed granite will stay, as there are no current plans to resurface the half-mile, student government-funded Cub Trail loop behind the BSB.
Berhane said he is “overall happy about it,” and that the increased width is good news for his running group.
“Every Saturday, we do our long runs with a group of 10 to 15 guys, and so having such narrow pavement was kind of rough,” Berhane said. “Hearing that they’re going to expand it and make it wider seems awesome. I would definitely be running there more often if that’s the case.”
As for his easier runs, Berhane said he might spend more time at Cameron Park or a 6-mile trail near State Highway 6.
Aside from the new running path, the project also includes new landscaping by the BSB and a bus pull-in that has already received positive feedback.
“[The bus pull-in] was probably one of the biggest safety features,” Mueller said. “It gets the city bus out of the road and onto this pull-in. And we have bus drivers that have given us thumbs-ups.”
While construction continues, students can take the detour by turning south at the University Parks bridge, which connects to the Cub Trail and the BSB.
