When St. Bernard Parish Government adopted its new Bikeway and Pedestrian Plan Update last year, it adopted a bold vision for establishing a network of trails and bikeways to link together all communities in the Parish and link St. Bernard with its neighboring parishes. An important step in implementing this vision was taken on February 6, 2018, when the St. Bernard Parish Council voted to accept a $3,960,000 federal grant to build the 40 Arpent Trail.
The new grant will fund construction of a 10-foot wide asphalt multi-use path along the Forty Arpent Canal for approximately 8 miles from Arabi near Alexander Avenue to the Violet Canal. The multi-use path will be designed for walkers, joggers, bicyclists, skaters, and other non-motorized users. The project also includes two bicycle-pedestrian bridges across the canal at Val Riess Park and at De Bouchel Blvd.
This funding is being provided by a federal grant from the Federal Highway Administration’s Surface Transportation Program. The Surface Transportation Program is designed to make improvements to all forms of surface transportation including bicycle and pedestrian facilities.
This grant program is administered locally by the Regional Planning Commission for Orleans, Jefferson, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James, St. John, St. Tammany and Tangipahoa Parishes (RPC). President McInnis, who currently serves as 1st Vice Chairman of the RPC, expressed his gratitude to Mr. Walter Brooks, RPC Executive Director, and his staff, for helping the Parish to secure this funding. President Mcinnis also expressed his appreciation to the other St. Bernard members of the Regional Planning Commission board who worked with him in securing this funding including Susan Klees, Councilman Howard Luna, Councilman Gillis McCloskey, and former Parish President Charles Ponstein.
The Parish expects to execute a contract with a professional engineering firm to design the trail in the next few weeks. Design is expected to take approximately one to two years to complete.
