Helena approves DeFord trailhead redesign to improve safety, access

Drivers backing blindly into South Davis Street, tighter parking, and a trail route that may cross private land pushed Helena’s DeFord Trailhead redesign forward, but the 3-2 vote on June 2 did not settle the bigger question of how the South Hills access point should work for neighbors, trail users and nearby landowners.

City officials said the project is meant to answer a safety problem they have seen for years: vehicles leaving the DeFord parking area and backing into traffic on South Davis Street. The approved plan carries a price tag of $70,000, including a grant contribution of a little more than $25,000, and would realign portions of the trail, improve accessibility, and redesign the parking lot with one-way traffic flow, marked stalls and an ADA-accessible space.

Mayor Emily Dean backed the project as a way to make DeFord easier to use for beginners, families and older residents. Commissioner Ben Rigby also supported the redesign, arguing that the parking changes would address a serious hazard for drivers pulling out into traffic. The vote followed heated testimony from both sides, echoing the public comment that had already split sharply at the May 28 commission hearing on Helena’s broader open-lands package.

Opponents argued that the city should study street speeds and traffic patterns before changing the site itself. Some critics called the parking-lot proposal “drastic” and “overkill,” while others said the trailhead felt unsafe for children because they could end up in the roadway. The Prickly Pear Land Trust, which owns adjacent land, said it does not support the project in its current form. Mary Hollow, the land trust’s executive director, said basic signage directing users to another parking lot might be a better first step.

The biggest unresolved issue is the trail alignment itself. One proposed design would send part of the route across Prickly Pear Land Trust property, and the city does not have an easement there. Commissioner Melinda Reed said she was uneasy about how the route is mapped and what the final product might look like. That means the June 2 approval keeps the project alive, but it still leaves Helena to either reroute the trail or negotiate an agreement with the land trust before construction can move ahead.

DeFord was built in spring 2001 with the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest to give hikers, runners and bicyclists a safer alternative to traveling in the Davis St./Dry Gulch Road traffic lane, where the city says shoulders are narrow or missing. City materials also cite numerous near-miss collisions involving pedestrians and vehicles leaving the trailhead. The trailhead serves the lower west end of the Mount Ascension trail system, and Helena describes DeFord as a moderate-grade, wide trail that parallels Davis Street and works well for people walking side by side.