The City of Prescott capped off years of planning and work on the Granite Creek Corridor through downtown Prescott with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Oct. 17 attended by local dignitaries, the project’s builders, volunteers and excited residents.
The City invested $3 million in grant and local funding to shore up the creek itself and the dirt trails along the banks of the 1.2-mile stretch between Granite Creek Park and Aubrey Street.
Contractors cleaned and detailed the creek bed and added retaining walls and other improvements to minimize erosion and protect nearby areas from flooding.
A newly refurbished and compacted trail surface will make it safer and more useful to walkers, runners, bicyclists, wheelchair users and others on the path, which is reserved for nonmotorized uses. Lighting and access have been improved, benches added, and there’s new signage, including a series of granite boulders etched with the names of nearby destinations.
A splash pad, walkways, picnic tables and a small ramada were added to the south end of Granite Creek Park to tie into the improvements along the corridor.
Initial planning for refurbishing an area perceived by some as dark and potentially dangerous began in 2018, and a series of community meetings in 2021 helped to solidify the City’s goals, including preservation of the riparian habitat, improving usability of the trail and additional interpretation and education about the history and habitat of the creek and its surroundings.
Construction began in fall 2022 after being delayed by inflation-related cost increases, and flooding in spring 2023 pushed progress back further.
The project’s completion was celebrated in an event planned by the City with the Prescott Chamber of Commerce, which formed a committee to help outline the project.
