Santa Fe Trail. Photo by Danny Fulgencio.
Editor’s note (Feb. 23): Information about a donation to Friends of Santa Fe Trail from developer Mill Creek Residential has been added.
Volunteers helped plant 50 trees along the Santa Fe Trail on Saturday, fulfilling one part of the master plan for the trail.
Eight American elms, nine cedar elms, 17 chinquapin oaks, three Mexican sycamores, three pecans and 10 Texas red oaks were planted along the trail between Glasgow Drive and Carroll Avenue, Friends of Santa Fe Trail president Samuel Mortimer said.
Friends of Santa Fe Trail, through Dallas Park and Recreation, worked with Dallas Water Utilities to locate all of the places where trees could be planted and wouldn’t disrupt utility lines.
The Santa Fe Trail, named for the Santa Fe Railway, passes through Dallas City Council districts 2, 9 and 14 and connects neighborhoods from White Rock Lake to Deep Ellum and Fair Park.
In addition to tree planting, Friends of Santa Fe Trail has three other projects planned for this year to begin implementing its master plan, which was presented to the Dallas Park and Recreation Board last year.
Through a fund-matching program, the friends group wants to invest $95,000 at each of two places along the trail — the intersection with Brookside Drive and the “T” intersection near Deep Ellum. Mortimer said the friends group was able to raise its half of the funds, and the park department has approved the match.
Last year, Friends of Santa Fe Trail received $25,000 donations from developers Larkspur Capital, the group behind The Willow development adjacent to the trail on Commerce Street, and Mill Creek Residential.
The hope for the Brookside Drive area is to create a pedestrian plaza with amenities for trail users. Decorated with a mural painted by Woodrow Wilson High School students, the area is already used as a neighborhood entrance.
“Our point of view is, let’s make this a pedestrian space and meet the trail in a much more pedestrian and natural way,” Mortimer said.
Plans for the “T” intersection, where the trail splits to lead trail users west toward Deep Ellum and east toward Fair Park, include a small sculpture park.
Mortimer said they hope to bring in some artifacts from the “boneyard,” which was started by former Dallas Park and Recreation Director Willis Winters.
The last project planned for this year is adding amenities such as picnic tables to the Glasgow trailhead.
“Even though we had a great fundraising year this year, if we want to keep moving and do more great projects next year, our goal is to empty our coffers by the end of the year and be ready to do more projects,” Mortimer said. “So we have to hit the ground running.”
The friends group is also working with City Council districts on safety improvements such as crosswalk improvements, which involve departments other than Park and Recreation. Lighting is another goal for the trail outlined in the master plan, but because of the price tag, the friends group may have to wait to find funding through the 2024 bond or through outside partnerships.
“It’s going to be a busy few years, we hope,” Mortimer said. “And this year especially, I think, is going to be a real game-changer for us in terms of continuing to take big steps forward and grow up as an organization.”
