Lush undergrowth and young trees bursting with new growth greeted Jamaica North Trail bikers, walkers and joggers on a recent spring evening.
It is just one of many trails in and around Lincoln that the Great Plains Trails Network helped secure funds to develop. David Schmidt was chair of GPTN’s fundraising committee when it raised $280,000 for the first phase of the Jamaica North, and about $280,000 more for the second phase.
Each person on the committee made a contribution, he said. “Some people were better at talking to people. Others were better at writing letters.â€
Working with government entities, trail supporters, developers and private foundations, the group has championed the development of a connection of trails that Lincoln commuters can use to and from work, students can access on their way to school to avoid busy streets, and bikers, walkers, runners, skaters and horseback riders can enjoy recreationally.
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GPTN formed in October 1988 to lend support to a 1989 bond issue that funded development of the Rock Island Trail and the urban MoPac between 33rd and 84th streets. When approached with the option to purchase the 25-mile stretch of abandoned Missouri-Pacific Railroad corridor that is now the MoPac East, it went into fundraising mode. Lincoln residents Lynn Lightner, Jayne Snyder, Lyle and Joyce Vannier, Dr. Larry Fletcher and wife Peg, Dr. Bill Griffin and wife Sheila, Richard and Elaine Hammer, Rich and Susan Rodenburg, Gary Hill, and Dr. Larry Toalson and wife Phoebe signed a promissory note for $167,000 to put toward the $275,000 purchase price, and GPTN fundraised the rest.
Those signers started meeting weekly to brainstorm ways to raise money to pay off the debt. Fletcher and Snyder became co-chairs of the fundraising committee, still the heart of the organization.
“Jayne was our go-to person for fundraising from the beginning to the time she died,†shared Elaine Hammer, a longtime board member.
GPTN members not only raise money for public trails owned by government entities, but also work closely with governmental agencies to improve trail safety and ensure that those trails meet multi-user needs. Both Hammer and fellow GPTN board member Gary Bentrup serve on the City of Lincoln’s Pedestrian Bicycle Advisory Committee to that end.
Since 1988, GPTN and its 30-member, all-volunteer board has supported the continued expansion of Lincoln’s trail system. That includes both rural and urban trails. “One of the unique things is how this system brings urban and rural together,†Hammer shared.
GPTN raised 10 percent of the funding for the N Street Protected Bikeway, which connects the Jamaica North Trail near 7th and N streets to the Billy Wolff Trail at 22nd and N streets. Schmidt, who works in commercial real estate, said “It’s a great economic development tool for the area.â€
Bentrup agrees, pointing to three new development projects along N Street that he believes see the value of the bike trail for commuting purposes, including Nelnet and Allo in the Telegraph District, Latitude Apartments and 8N Lofts. Bentrup said that for each $1 spent on trails, there is a $3 direct medical benefit for residents, too.
Along with former board member Beth Thacker, Bentrup co-wrote a grant for the Jayne Snyder Trailhead Center, which along with the Antelope Valley Trail System has become a connecting point for trails north, south, east and west, Hammer said. “That was our dream, to have a trail center.â€
Connecting trails is one of GPTN’s main goals.
“I think it builds a sense of community,†said Karen Griffin, daughter of Dr. Bill Griffin, one of the MoPac East promissory note signers.
Some of her best memories are of riding her bike with her family in the Sheridan neighborhood where she grew up. “So I wanted to make sure all parts of Lincoln have access to trails and safe places to ride,†she shared. “It connects the community in a way that driving cars can’t.â€
One of the toughest links to complete was the Husker Link (24th to 33rd streets and the bridge over 27th Street), Hammer said. Gale Breed and Nancy Loftis were instrumental in getting that accomplished. On the Oak Creek Trail project, John Angle spurred community support by putting up a $20,000 match.
Bentrup, who said the last thing he wanted to get involved in when he joined GPTN was fundraising, soon realized that it is the most important thing the organization does.
“We wouldn’t have kept going for 30 years if it wasn’t for the continued interest in fundraising for the trails,†added Griffin, a geologist with Olsson Associates and co-chair of GPTN’s fundraising committee. She advocates for trails through the Community Services Foundation, campaigning for employee payroll deduction contributions to GPTN’s foundation – the Nebraska Trails Foundation.
GPTN raises between $15,000 and $20,000 annually through the Community Services Foundation, Griffin said. “There’s always a new effort, but people come through for us.â€
Improvements to the Murdock Trail are among the current GPTN priority projects. The goal is to pave the portion of the trail from 56th to 70th streets so it can be considered a commuter trail. “We want to get it to Dawes Middle School,†Hammer explained.
A total of $500,000 is needed for the trail upgrades, and GPTN has committed to raising half of that. Then, if additional funds can be raised, a 4-foot-wide limestone trail would be developed alongside of it, Hammer said.