OWENSBORO, KY (WFIE) - $25,000 from Owensboro's Wellness Fund is paying for new biking and hiking trails at Ben Hawes Park.

Work has already started but leftover storm debris is making the job tough.

"I've gotten into some thicker areas now," Alex Stewart of Spectrum Trail Design says.

Left over debris from Hurricane Ike and 2009's ice storm has made marking these trails pretty challenging for Alex Stewart.

"This project is harder than most because of all the stuff on the ground," says Stewart.

Before construction can start on the new hiking and biking trails at Ben Hawes Park there's still a lot to do.

"We're going in and cutting some of the bushes and things like that. Tree logs, things that are in the way," Grounds Manager Eddie Atherton says.

With a good pair of walking shoes Stewart is on his way.

"I probably have five or six miles on my boots today," says Stewart.

Day by day, until these pink flags cover six miles of trails, Stewart will make sure the design will work.

"I'm basically scouting the land to find all of the positive and negative control points. All the places we want to go to and all the places we want to avoid then trying to connect these areas," Stewart says. "For this segment we're going to run an average grade of about four percent."

Stewart ties a ribbon at the entrances which represents zero.

"Then I go down hill and use my climometer and I check my grade from the last ribbon I tied at four percent below and then tie this one at zero," Stewart says.

This creates an imaginary line through the woods allowing Stewart to retrace his steps and mark the corridor with flags.

Once this process is complete for all the trails, city maintenance and jail crews can remove debris.

"Some of those trails already existed, that they're connecting to and crossing," Atherton says.

Crews will also learn how to build and maintain trails for future projects.