BILLINGS — A new trail proposed by Billings TrailNet along North 27th Street would help connect the downtown corridor to the top of the Rimrocks.
One of the most utilized spots in town for runners and bikers for elevation training is the stretch of North 27th Street leading up from downtown near MSU Billings to the airport. However, the current unpaved path on the west side of the street can be difficult to manage.
“The trail's deteriorating a little bit. There's fabric that shows up so it can be a tripping hazard. In weather like this, it's not as easy to run on, so you do slip a little bit, and it's a little scary to run up there," said Shelley Phelps, a board member of the Yellowstone Rim Runners.
The running group frequents the hill and has seen concerns about the condition of the trail in recent years, especially from their president and former MSUB track and cross-county coach Dave Coppock, who has been running in the area for over 40 years.
“More than half my runs and walks are on trails now that we have such a good system here in town,” said Coppock. “It's pretty narrow. In fact, it's hardly even a bike width next to the curbing there. The other side, there's a dirt trail that's been there for years along the outside of the guardrail. In the winter, it's pretty tough to run up that it gets icy, so you end up getting pushed out on the street up on 27th."
A new trail proposed by the Billings TrailNet, called the Yellowjacket Trail, is designed to solve that problem and create a safe path on the east side where the road meets the Rims.
“With MSUB right here, and then the new Intermountain Health complex, and then the airport, there's just needs to be a connection," said Billings TrailNet Executive Director Kristi Drake.
The plan is not set in stone. The Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) has highlighted engineering challenges that could prevent the trail from coming to fruition, such as the dangers of moving the road over or removing the surrounding rocks. The west side of the road cannot be paved, also due to geotechnical issues and water runoff.
“MDT is really concerned about putting anything else on this road because of the runoff from the house side where there's a lot of residences. There's just an awful lot of things that are going on with this road that may make it not possible to build a trail here,” said Drake.
Drake has been working for years to get the plan secured and funded through private and public dollars.
“What we've done so far is we've met with MDT and the Planning Department for City of Billings. There is like a big giant grant coming up in April, which, it'd be about $1.8 million. That could potentially be something that the Yellowjacket Trail could be funded by," said Drake. "We're going to need to come up with a 20% match for this."
The organization is staying determined after the approval of the Stagecoach Trail, which will be built alongside Zimmerman Trail in the next two years, but the journey is just beginning. They have sent a request for proposal for an engineering firm to conduct a feasibility study and see what options they have for building plans.
“It takes a good year, if not more, to actually get a solid engineering plan, and then the contractor work, so that's why it can take three, four, five years to do something like that,” said Drake.
Despite the long timeline, for both runners and bikers alike, it is a trek that will be worth it.
"We're excited. We're stoked," said Phelps. "Opening that up is going to be a big safety thing and also for commuters."
“I think it's really a great thing for Billings and it's a lot safer than having to run on the roads all the time," added Coppock. “The connectivity is really, really nice to have, so I think that's a big part of it."
For more information on the trail and the Billings TrailNet's upcoming events, click here.
