The city of Coeur d'Alene is grading a dirt trail along the Spokane River now that it owns the old Burlington Northern Railroad right of way.

Parks and Recreation Director Steve Anthony took The Press on a driving tour of the 2.2-mile trail from Riverstone to Mill River Thursday morning.

"It's still a crude trail," Anthony said. "But we thought now that the city owns it, the public should have access to it."

Anthony said the city Streets Department took a day and half to start grading the trail to take out potholes and mounds of rock to make the trail accessible to bike walkers and joggers.

"It is for non-motorized use only," he said, adding the city is going to put up signs and bollards to ensure the trail is only used by bicyclists and pedestrians.

On Thursday, several people walking their dogs were already taking advantage of the newly leveled portion of the trail. So far crews have leveled it from North Beebe Boulevard to Old Atlas Road.

"We will grade it all the way to Grandmill next week," Anthony said, adding when the trail is finished, it will be more than 2 miles long.

Anthony said the new trail, which doesn't have an official name yet, connects to the Centennial Trail and the Prairie Trail. Technically, hikers and bikers can follow the old railroad right of way all the way to Huetter Road, but the city doesn't have any plans to improve the property beyond Grandmill for now.

Anthony said the city has met with the president of the Mill River Homeowners Association to discuss how area homeowners would like to see the trail developed between the housing development and the Johnson Mill River Park.

He said the area will likely be part of a master planning process to determine the use of the property because that is already an established neighborhood.

For now, he said, the city wanted to make at least a portion of trail accessible.

"There are a lot of really nice views down here," he said. "We just want to encourage people to use it."