St. Paul seeks trail grant to replace staircases and resurface the Sledding Hill

The City of St. Paul is seeking state trail money to replace wooden staircases and improve gravel approaches on community trails above the store, according to a city public notice. The same application would grade and resurface Trail B, known locally as the Sledding Hill, with gravel.

The notice says the Sledding Hill work is meant "to improve safety and access for community members." Residents can comment on the plan through Oct. 23, and the city's application is due Oct. 30.

The money would come from a federally funded trails grant program that the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities administers statewide, which the city's notice calls the Alaska Recreational Trails Program. This round offers up to $100,000 per project, and recipients must cover at least 10% of the cost with non-federal money. In the last round, the department awarded more than $2.2 million across 15 projects.

The city's notice doesn't include a cost estimate.