Photo by Deb Gau Coming up with future priorities for Marshall parks and trails was part of a public input session at City Hall on Wednesday night. During one exercise, Jill Schroeder, Dion Caron, John Alcorn and Cam Bailey drew out important transportation corridors for Marshall pedestrians and cyclists.

MARSHALL — Setting out a roadmap for future development is something the city of Marshall has been working on a lot over the past couple of years. Now, Marshall’s parks and trails are in the spotlight for future planning.

On Wednesday evening, Marshall area residents gathered for a public input session on Marshall’s trail system. With the help of a state grant, the city is working on a Parks and Trails Master Plan.

“This will help us establish some goals,” Marshall Parks and Recreation Director Preston Stensrud said of the planning process. While Marshall recently updated its Comprehensive Plan, the city hasn’t had a master plan just for parks and trails, Stensrud said.

That parks and trails plan is now being created with the help of an Active Transportation Planning Assistance Grant from the Minnesota Department of Transportation. Stensrud said Marshall received about $23,000 to develop the plan.

Stensrud said Marshall is working with MnDOT and professional services firm Sambatek to create a parks and trails plan. So far, a planning team including representatives from the city, Marshall schools, and groups like Southwest Health and Human Services has met a few times, he said.

“(Wednesday) night was more the interactive side of it,” Stensrud said. Community members were invited to share their thoughts on what was important for trails and sidewalks in Marshall.

The discussions were focused on “active transportation” methods like walking and biking. Making it possible for more people to walk, bike, or roll around the community has both health and economic benefits, said Codie Leseman, a transportation planner with Sambatek.

Community members said there positives to Marshall’s existing parks and trails.

“It’s amazing what we do have in the city of Marshall,” said Jane Mellenthin.

At the same time, Mellenthin and other community members voiced safety concerns about city trails, especially in places where bike trails share the road with cars. Trails also needed to be well-lit and maintained, they said. Candace Thomas said green space along trails would also be important.

Leseman and Stensrud also talked about the need for Marshall’s trails to be well-connected. A walking tour of Marshall conducted Wednesday found areas of the city where it was difficult or risky for pedestrians or cyclists to travel.

One of the activities at Wednesday’s input session had community members mapping out important corridors of travel in Marshall. Small groups used different colored stickers to mark important places like residential neighborhoods, schools and other destinations, and then found common paths between them.

Stensrud said there are more opportunities for members of the public to weigh in on Marshall parks and trails. Community members can take a survey online at https://talk.dot.state.mn.us/marshall-parks-and-trails-master-plan. The web page also has an interactive map where members of the public can leave comments, and more information on the planning project.