KAYSVILLE — The Utah Transit Authority is another step closer to having a continuous 23-mile trail from West Haven to West Bountiful.

On Thursday, UTA and Kaysville officially opened a 4.2-mile section of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railway Trail that runs completely through Kaysville.

"It connects our community from top to bottom," said Kaysville Mayor Neka Roundy, adding that the trail is expected to benefit her city's active residents.

The paved trail is designed for bicyclists, walkers and runners, but the city plans to add an equestrian surface to the side of the trail for horse owners.

The $600,000 trail begins at the Layton border in the north and runs south to the Farmington border, with various access points entering the trail from surrounding subdivisions and street crossings.

Sections of the Denver and Rio Grande trail have now been completed in Clinton, Kaysville, Centerville and West Bountiful.

Clearfield's section could be completed by the end of the year, and Layton officials expect to complete their segment in 2010. A Roy-to-West Haven segment could be completed in 2010 or 2011.

Roundy said she expects the completion of the Kaysville trail to put pressure on Farmington to complete its segment.

She thanked UTA for having the foresight to turn part of its rail corridor into a trail.

UTA spokesman Gerry Carpenter said the transit authority purchased 175 miles of rail corridor from Union Pacific. UTA is using that corridor to complete the FrontRunner commuter-rail line through Salt Lake County and is turning currently unneeded corridor into trails in Davis County.

Eventually, the trail will connect residents from West Haven to those near Utah Lake via the Legacy Parkway and Jordan River Parkway trails.

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