South Eugene Meadows Park is the first new section of the Ridgeline Trail since the Dillard Connector Trail opened in 2014. The 193-acre park is southwest of the existing Blanton Ridge trail, and connects to Willamette Street with a lollipop-shaped set of trails.
City of Eugene Parks Planning spokesperson Ryan Turner said crews began constructing trails last summer, and finished them this summer.
“All of the finishing touches like wayfinding signage and things like that aren't up yet, but we wanted to get the trail usable by the public as soon as we could,” Turner said. He noted, “I think the official grand opening probably won’t occur until late summer or early fall.”
Turner said a new parking lot on the west side of Willamette near 52nd Street, which will accommodate about 35 vehicles, is almost complete. He said the existing Ridgeline Trail lot on the east side of the street can handle about 12 cars.
Turner said the total cost for the trail and the parking lot was about $1.5 million. He said the nonprofit Eugene Parks Foundation contributed about $650,000, and the rest came from fees paid to the city by builders for systems development charges (SDC).
South Eugene Meadows Park is open to hikers and non-motorized, non-electric assist bicycles.
