CLEARFIELD -- The "canal trail" took another step forward last week when the City Council approved an agreement for the management and operation of a future paved path along the Davis and Weber Canal.
The Davis and Weber Canal Co. approved the easement for the 2.5-mile trail on its property Tuesday so the next step is design."It's taken 2 1/2 years," Clearfield recreation director Tracy Heun said of securing the easement.
The trail will be 10 feet wide and cater to nonmotorized use -- bicycling, walking and skating. It will not be an equestrian path, however because Heun has plans for a horse trail on the city's west side.
If it snows enough, the canal trail won't be plowed but could be a good place to cross-country ski.
In fact, one of the trail's strong points is that it will be level and provide recreation, as well as a transportation alternative in the city. A part of the trail will also pass by the future site of the Weber State University campus in Clearfield.
"It's just a phenomenal plan," Heun said.
The city has some $15,000 on hand now to begin the design phase. Heun is also gearing up for the 2000-01 fiscal year budget year when she's hoping to have a lot more money on hand to apply for matching grant money to get the trail developed.
She estimates it will cost about $100,000 per mile for the trail.
Because there's expected to be a good chunk of state grant money for trails available next year, Heun wants to be ready with a design and matching funds.
The trail would begin at the Sunset-Clearfield line, where the canal parallels I-15 and Hill Air Force Base. The canal passes east under I-15 at 200 South and heads southeast at 700 South, crossing by Summer Place before heading into Layton.
Heun said Clearfield also has some future park property that would connect with the trail. For example, the city has three acres near the Pinnacle Apartments at 700 S. Angel and another 10 acres east of 1500 East, near Summer Place.
The Layton City Council has yet to approve its connecting portion of the trail, but Heun said Clearfield's trail can stand alone if necessary. Still, she doesn't see any reason why Layton won't eventually approve and build its own 2.5-mile portion of the path, though it will likely come years later than Clearfield's trail.
Layton's priority is to develop the upper two miles of its Kays Creek trail first, which would connect with the canal trail near Fairfield Road.
The Layton canal trail would intersect Fort Lane just south of Antelope Drive and then head east to Church Street and Cherry Lane.
When completed, the canal trail would be kind of a northern Davis County version of Salt Lake County's Jordan River Parkway.