New Expo Idaho park to bring wetlands, skate features and future footbridge near 52nd street

Añadido: 2026-05-06

[00:00:00]Ada County's Park at Expo Idaho continues to take shape here along the Greenbelt. I'm neighborhood reporter Ali Tripkey getting a tour of the park's progress and hearing from neighbors about what they're excited for. It's exciting to have something so nicely planned and it looks like it's just going to be so user-friendly. Neighbors Jenny Morton and Trish Charlton walk this stretch of the Greenbelt every week and say they're eager to see what the new park will bring to this area.

[00:00:26]>> I'm very excited about it because it is literally so close to where we live and I just think it's awesome that they've done something that with the money that everyone can enjoy. Wednesday, Ada County Park senior project manager Josh Brown gave me a tour showing me how this now dirt-covered site will soon transform into a green space filled with native plants and trees.

[00:00:52]>> All native. They're everything here is something they found along the Greenbelt, and something they found along the river. Brown says crews are working to plant grasses and trees before summer heat sets in creating habitat for wildlife and shade for visitors. People always talk about the metal slide. Yes, they can get very hot in the summertime, but we've got a study and I'll send it to you that plastic slides get hot, too, right? Ours are all but one have covered all the way down, so it's cooler inside the tube and we're planting trees around all of them, so it's going to create shade. They cool off fast. As Idaho News 6 reported, the more than 40-acre park will feature restored wetlands running through the center along with a roller derby track, skate park, and destination playground with a rock wall and what they're calling the largest swing set west of the Mississippi. The whole goal is they get out of the car at the parking lot, they hit the zip line, they swing on the swing set, they dash through the nature play area. Right now, foot traffic along the Greenbelt hits private property around 52nd Street, but plans call for a future pedestrian bridge connecting to Plantation Island. Design work is expected to begin next month with hopes of completing the bridge by 2028.

[00:02:05]>> Park managers say they're still on track to open phase one of the park in October. In Ada County, I'm neighborhood reporter Ali Tripkey, Idaho News 6.