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EAST MISSOULA – You wouldn't call it the most picturesque stretch of the Kim Williams Nature Trail, but a key connector to the Canyon River golf course is finally under construction.

A crew from Grant Creek Excavation started work Monday on the 1,300-foot trail that will leave the Kim Williams trail a few hundred yards short of its eastern terminus and pass under a Montana Rail Link trestle and two Interstate 90 bridges.

That will formally attach the so-called Kim Williams Extension to the Canyon River trail that runs mostly along the Clark Fork River. When the short-but-tricky project is completed by late June, there’ll be another leg of a riverside public pedestrian/bike trail stretching from the University of Montana campus to the Canyon River clubhouse.

This leg is unique for the Kim Williams because it’ll be paved, said Alan White, construction manager for the city of Missoula’s Department of Parks and Recreation. That’s because most of the $355,000 price tag is paid for by the federal Community Transportation Enhancement Program.

“It’s absolutely required, the way the money is passed down, even though we wanted to keep it natural,” White said. “I guess you can’t bite the hand that feeds you.”