The walking trail that will connect Cassidy Park and Goodyear Park should be finished next week, Bogalusa Director of Parks and Recreation Landon Tims said Wednesday.

In 2014, under the administration of former mayor Charles Mizell, the city of Bogalusa received a Recreational Trails grant of $140,000 from the State of Louisiana. But the grant project was delayed due to the need for a 30-percent match from the city, Tims said.

“It was put on hold until the city could save the appropriate funds for the match,” he said. “That’s why the work didn’t start until late 2016.

“The winning bid for the project was $119,800, and the city will pay 30 percent of the total, so that’s about $35,940.”

The connecting section of the trail hasn’t been measured yet, but Tims estimates it at approximately 3,500 feet long.

“That’s almost three quarters of a mile,” he said. “And when you add that to the Cassidy Park trail and the Goodyear Park trail, it will be almost one and a half miles long.”

Tims said he’d like to eventually extend the trail to one more park.

“We would like to include the Avenue B Sports Complex,” he said. “But we would have to apply for another grant to do that phase. In 2014, one of the main things they were looking for in granting the money was about connecting one park to another. That’s why we were able to get it.

“But what they’re looking for changes all the time. It depends on what the Office of State Parks is looking for that year.”

In the mean time, the new sidewalks along Avenue B and the new “wooden bridge” opening onto Willis Avenue are certainly noticeable. Tims said the wooden structure was designed not only to be attractive to the eye, but also for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“We need to catch people’s eyes to get them to notice the trail is there,” Tims said.