New bridge connects visitors to natural wonders at this popular Johnson County park

It’s easy for Bill McGowan to visualize the importance of the new bridge at Ernie Miller Park & Nature Center.

The bridge is practical and picturesque — and a great example of the improvements going on at the 116-acre park in Olathe, says McGowan, outdoor education manager for the Johnson County Park and Recreation District.

The $85,000 fiber-composite bridge is a critical replacement recommended by engineers.

The bridge is higher on the banks of Little Cedar Creek and thus safer during times of high water. And it’s bigger than the old bridge, at 80 feet long with a 10-foot-wide deck.

“This is a very scenic area,” McGowan says. “These are all going to be features people are going to enjoy. This is a place where a lot of people get engaged. There are a lot of family pictures taken there.”

Work on and around the bridge is hoped to be completed within the next two weeks, says Mark Allen, project manager for the park and recreation district. Concrete work has been stalled because of rain, and that includes work on a landing, as well stone steps and a switchback-style trail with a gentler grade west of the bridge.

This is expected to be a busy autumn of improvements for Ernie Miller, which has a range of habitats, including tallgrass prairies, upland meadows, a bottomland forest and a small stream, as well as three miles of nature trails, a picnic shelter and a nature center.

McGowan says the park’s last capital improvement project was the nature center’s exhibit gallery, which opened in May 2016.

“The exhibit gallery has been very popular with visitors, especially the live animal and interactive exhibits,” McGowan says.

The improvements ahead are outlined in the park’s 2018 master plan.

The projects, to be completed in early 2021, include a new accessible parking and drop-off loop near the nature center, and a boardwalk placed on the northwestern edge of the existing pond, allowing for environmental education programs, an updated amphitheater and trail improvements.

“Every project aimed at improving the patron experience also works to conserve and improve the resiliency of the landscape,” Allen says. “So, improvements to trails, for example, are designed to increase the ease of patron access to different areas of the park, as well as minimize erosion that damages soils.

“Infrastructure elements of the park, such as storm water management structures, play a role in regulating water levels in streams and ponds, which serve as valuable natural habitats and locations for the park’s excellent outdoor education programs,” Allen says. “In this way, elements of site infrastructure are considered carefully by designers in order to create a healthy connection between developed facilities and natural features.”

Many factors were considered when improvements were scheduled.

“Given the role of the park in connecting patrons with nature, projects have been sequenced to minimize construction effects on the land. Plans include the replanting of native trees and grasses,” Allen says.

Ernie Miller Park, open from dawn to dusk, has remained open during much of the current health crisis.

The nature center closed in mid-March, but the lobby reopened in mid-June. The lobby is currently opened from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Friday.

For more information about Ernie Miller Park and Nature Center, go to: www.jcprd.com/328/Ernie-Miller-Park-Nature-Center.

This story was originally published August 18, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "New bridge connects visitors to natural wonders at this popular Johnson County park."