OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Omaha will soon begin a $15 million project to develop a northwestern lake area with new trails and a campground to park more recreational vehicles.
Mayor Jean Stothert and other city officials announced the plans to upgrade Glenn Cunningham Lake on Thursday, the Omaha World-Herald reported. The project calls for 42 new RV pads, a 4-mile (6-kilometer) equestrian and nature trail and a 6-mile (10-kilometer) multipurpose trail that loops around the lake.
Construction will begin later this summer and wrap up in fall 2020, said Brook Bench, director of the Omaha Parks and Recreation Department.
Bench said the city wants to connect the new lake trail to the Keystone Trail, an expansion that Omaha leaders have been eyeing for some time.
“Our long-term goal would be to have the trail all the way around Lake Cunningham connected to Democracy Park,” Bench said, referring to the northern trailhead of the Keystone Trail. “That’s going to take us a bit of time, but that’s our ultimate goal.”
Officials said anonymous private donors are helping the city make the improvements to the 337-acre (136-hectare) lake and surrounding 1,050-acre (425-hectare) park that’ve been closed since April.
The area has been closed off to the public to allow the lake to be drained to eliminate two invasive species, zebra mussel and common carp. The effort to kill the invasive species was delayed by significant runoff into the lake from a mix of rain and snowmelt on frozen ground in March.
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Information from: Omaha World-Herald, http://www.omaha.com
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