Let there be light!

Tonight, friends and supporters of the beautiful Katy Trail will gather at the Victory Overlook above Reverchon Park to ceremoniously flip the switch to light the Trail. Lights have been a part of the Katy Trail's master plan since its inception, and tonight we will see the first part of this project come to fruition. From the DMN:

City officials and other supporters will gather at 8:15 p.m. near the trail's southern end for the lighting of a half-mile of trail – from American Airlines Center to near Reverchon Park.

The illumination will extend to Knox Street in another month or so, said Eric Van Steenburg, executive director of Friends of the Katy Trail.

The Friends of the Katy Trail, the nonprofit group that raises money to build and maintain the Trail (and of which I am a board member), has been raising funds to light the Trail piece by piece. The lights cost $50 per foot - so you can put your best foot forward for $50, jump in with both feet for $100, go the longest yard for $200, feel ten feet tall for $500, or go the whole nine yards for $1350. So far, we raised $60,000 towards the $100,000 needed to complete the lighting - but we still have $40,000 to go.

...after the group raises $40,000, the almost $800,000 project will be completed to Airline Road on the Dallas-Highland Park border. The metal halide lights will shine from dusk to 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. until sunrise.

Adding the lighting is just one of the many things the Friends does to keep the Trail safe.

The lights should improve security, said Dallas Deputy Police Chief Vince Golbeck, commander of the central patrol division. But despite the incidents, he said, the trail is safe. "We still recommend that people use common sense in running and cycling together," Chief Golbeck said. "And it's always a good idea to be aware of your surroundings."

The trail support group is also seeking volunteers to patrol the path. And location markers have been added to help emergency responders answer calls for help.

So, if you are one of the 15,000 people who use the Trail each week, your workout hours are about to get extended, allowing you to use the Trail on your own schedule, especially during the winter.

With the lighting, he said, the goal is to expand recreation opportunities and increase use of a trail that opened eight years ago along an abandoned Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad line north of downtown Dallas. The lighting "will allow people to use the trail on their schedule," Mr. Van Steenburg said. "Particularly in winter, it will extend their workout hours."

And more people along the way should help deter crime, he said. "It's a de facto crime watch."

If you love the Trail as much as I do - if you use it for your morning walk, your evening jog, to walk your pup, ride your bike, or just to sit and people watch - I hope you'll consider putting your best foot (or feet?) forward and help us finish the lights!