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Trail News 2009
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Three New Sections of the Pennsy Trail In Progress

Three separate sections of the Pennsy Trail - in Indianapolis, Cumberland and Greenfield - have been under development this summer, all of them segments of the 150-mile cross-state National Road Heritage Trail being planned between Richmond and Terre Haute.

  • Indianapolis, East Side- A 1.2 mile segment is being built between Arlington Ave. and Shortridge Rd. and should be completed by fall.  A short diversion through the Irvington area, through Ellenberger Park via a multi-use path on Ritter Avenue, will connect the west end of the Pennsy to the east end of the existing Pleasant Run Trail.  Sections of the trail east of Shortridge, which will eventually connect with the Cumberland section, are awaiting funding.
  • Cumberland - The town received $2.6 million in federal stimulus funds in April to complete its 3-mile segment of the Pennsy between German Church Road and Hancock County Road 600W.  Construction is expected to begin this fall.
  • Greenfield - A 2.7 mile extension west of the city is nearing completion and is already being enjoyed by local residents.  The new segment brings the total length in Greenfield to 5.3 miles.

Pumpkinvine Trail Extension Opens

Another 3.4 miles of the Pumpkinvine Nature Trail is paved and open in Elkhart County, extending the northwest endpoint of the trail to just outside of the town of Middlebury.  The route of the new segment, which follows farm perimeters and county roads in addition to the former railbed, opened on National Trails Day, June 6th.  

The Pumpkinvine Trail

Goshen's Maple City Greenway, a network of city trails that includes the Pumpkinvine, will eventually extend westward to meet with the existing trail alongside County Road 45.  The CR45 path, also known as the MapleHart Trail, runs for 4 miles to the southeast edge of downtown Elkhart.  When this regional plan is completed, there will be roughly 25 miles of trail connecting Elkhart, Goshen, Middlebury and Shipshewana.


Introducing Indiana's First Interstate Trail: The Union City Gateway Trail

On June 19th, the Union City Gateway trail linking the cities of Union City, Indiana and Union City, Ohio was dedicated and became Indiana's first official interstate multiuse trail.  The project is intended to link the Indiana and Ohio sides of the town. While the Union City Gateway is only one mile in length and runs from the Railroad Park Trail in Ohio to Harter Park in Indiana, it is important because it is the first trail connection between the two states.

Long-term trail plans show the trail connecting westward through Randolph County to the Cardinal Greenway at Muncie.  In Ohio, plans are being made to connect Union City East to Greenville (Darke County Parks District), Bradford, Covington and Piqua (Miami County Trails Task Force) and extending to Urbana (Champaign County) Simon Kenton Pathfinders. In Piqua, what has begun to be called the Ohio-To-Indiana Trail,  will connect with the existing trail system, and the Great Miami River Recreation Trail that, when complete, will run South from Sidney in Shelby County over 90 miles through Piqua, Troy, Tipp City, Dayton, Franklin, Middleton and Hamilton.  

Please see the Miami Valley Trails website for more information.
~Thomas J. Recktenwalt, Miami Valley RailTrails



Cardinal Greenway Approaches 50 Miles

The 2.5-mile Cardinal Greenway in Richmond and the 27-mile main segment of the Cardinal Greenway in Muncie and Losantville will be nearly connected by the end of the year, bridging the 20-mile gap and forming a 50-mile contiguous trail.  All except 10 miles of the entire stretch will be paved, but the layer of stone to be laid will be replaced by asphalt in a future project.  New trailheads will also be installed with the final paving project.

By the end of 2009, a new 10-miles of asphalt should be completed between Richmond and the town of Webster, in north Wayne County, and the 10 miles between Losantville and Webster will be passable but unpaved.

Volunteers are being sought to help maintain the new sections.  Please visit the Cardinal Greenways website to learn more.


Bloomington B-Line Trail Opens First Phase

The B-Line Trail

The city of Bloomington has opened the first phase of its urban B-line Trail, a 0.6 mile stretch located just west of City Hall and adjacent to the Bloomington Community Farmers' Market, extending from Rogers Street south to Second Street.  Phase I of the trail includes a diamond-shaped bridge over Third Street near the Convention Center.  Construction of Phase II is anticipated to begin in spring 2010, and will involve the east side of Adams Street to the west side of Rogers Street, and from Second Street south to the north side of Country Club Drive.  This will make the connection with Bloomington's other open rail-trails.


South Bend Riverside Trail Extension Nears Completion

Riverside Trail

Construction crews have nearly completed work on the final phase of South Bend's Riverside Trail this summer.  The new 1.63-mile segment will bring the total length of the trail, which has already won tremendous popularity among residents, to 3.2 miles.  

In Phase 2, the trail will continue north from Woodland Park in a section that is lower than the street, separated by a retention wall.  A crosswalk will connect the trail with Pinhook Park, and an overlook is planned just south of the park.  The trail will continue along Riverside Drive, rather than the river, because of the Wastewater Treatment Plant.  After passing under the Indiana Toll Road and crossing Cleveland Road, Riverside Trail will have another overlook north of Cleveland, before connecting with the boat launch and the Old Darden Road bridge, an historic iron truss structure.

The City of South Bend’s commitment to a dedicated walking and bicycle trails along the St. Joseph River began in the 1970s.  Completion of the entire Riverside Trail segment will bring the total trail system to more than 11 miles in length.  The Riverside Trail represents a portion of an emerging South Bend bicycle network, which includes more than 88 miles of proposed bicycle lanes, routes and multipurpose paths. For more information, visit the city’s web site.


Northwest Indiana Trail News Bytes

Reconnecting the Lakeshore

A critical gap is being examined in the ongoing planning activity for the Marquette Greenway trail network, a conceptual greenway spanning three states and over 50 miles along the southern rim of Lake Michigan.  In the latter half of 2008, a group of stakeholders came together to help plan a route to link the long-disconnected east and west halves of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.  This gap is approximately 9 miles long, and incorporates number of landholdings, both public and private.  In addition, there are several state highways, two major railroads and a winding river which makes the route unique in scope.  NIRPC, along with the communities of Burns Harbor, Porter, Portage and Ogden Dunes, as well as Holladay Properties, Arcelor-Mittal Steel and the National Lakeshore, have come together to scope out the best central trail route, including several "spur" routes to places of interest and population centers.  

Aiding in the planning is funding through the Burnham Plan Centennial Committee, whose charge is to set in motion a series of initiatives, both planning and project specific, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Daniel's Burnham's landmark 1909 Plan of Chicago.  The Centennial Committee instantly recognized this Indiana-based initiative as essential towards expanding Burnham's regional vision.  The plan is scheduled to be complete by May of 2009, with immediate work to commence on securing funding for this critical link.

Introducing the Dunes-Kankakee Trail

In Governor Daniel's Indiana State Trails Plan of 2006, a "Visionary" trail along State Route 49 was identified which would cut through central Porter County north to the Indiana Dunes State Park.  With the help of Lorelei Weimer from the Porter County Recreation, Convention and Visitor's Commission, a number of municipal interests, as well as the DNR and National Lakeshore, have been actively planning a trail to connect the Dunes State Park to the Kankakee River on the southern end of the county.  Dubbed the "Dunes-Kankakee Trail", this system will be developed in three distinct phases, with the first 12-mile segment to run south to Valparaiso.  A plan to coordinate the trail's development is scheduled to be released by the Commission this spring.

Oak Savannah Trail Construction

In 2009, the Lake County Parks Department will commence work on two projects along the Oak-Savannah Trail.  The first will involve a tunnel under State Route 53, or Broadway, in Gary.  The second will extend the trail one half mile east, into the City of Hobart.  Both projects are scheduled to be complete by the fall of 2009.

Indiana's First Interstate Trail

The long awaited connection into Illinois from Munster along the Pennsy Greenway Northwest will commence construction this summer, and should be completed by fall.  The half-mile length will meet up with the existing three-mile segment in Lansing, Illinois.  Eventually, this route will lead directly north, all via trail, to the Chicago Lakefront Trail.

C&O Trail Comes to Life

In Merrillville, work is to commence this year on the first segment of the C&O Trail from State Route 55 east to SR 53. This essential phase should be complete by fall.

Whiting-Hammond Link

The City of Whiting is expected to use newly appropriated Regional Development Authority funding to complete a link from the George Lake Trail in Hammond to their lakefront park, and eventually into an existing trail system at Whihala Park.  Eventually, this link will lead into south Chicago at Calumet Park as part of the Marquette Greenway network.  Work is scheduled to commence in 2009.

St. John Trail to Open - Finally!

The Town of St. John will formally open their two-mile local trail this year, which connects a large number of residents to a major parks facility.

Prairie-Duneland Trail to Re-open

INDOT is scheduled to re-open the Prairie-Duneland Trail at US 6 in Portage in the summer of 2009 as they complete a long-awaited tunnel at this location.


Stimulus Bill to Infuse $10 Million Into Indiana Trails

The 2009 Federal stimulus package promises to effectively double the average allotment of federal transportation funds for trail projects in Indiana this year.  Indiana's total share of funding for transportation is set at approximately $657 million, three percent of which the bill calls to be used toward Transporation Enhancement (TE) projects.  Generally about half of TE projects are trail oriented, which will result in approximately $10 million of the stimulus going toward trails.

Indiana also receives federal funds annually from the transportation bill, a package drawn up by Congress and renewed every 6 years.  TE funds from this bill have held steady at 10% of the total allotment, or about $10 million annually in recent years toward trail projects in Indiana.

The exact projects toward which the stimulus funding is directed are not yet known, although they will be decided at the state level, most likely by INDOT.  All projects are assumed to be ready for immediate construction, which for trails implies that all land acquisition and design details have been completed.


Monon Trail Joins National Trail Hall of Fame

The national Rails-to-Trails Conservancy is recognizing exemplary rail-trails around the country for induction into its Rail-Trail Hall of Fame.  A new trail will be selected by the Washington D.C. based organization once each month on merits such as scenic value, high use, trail and trailside amenities, historical significance, excellence in management and maintenance of facility, community connections and geographic distribution.  The month of March 2009 became the Monon Trail's turn to enter the official ranks of the nation's best rail-trails.  The Monon also boasts one of the highest usage rates for any trail in the nation, with over 3 million annual visitors along its 15-mile length through Carmel and Indianapolis.

Promotion of the program will include award signage for the trail, a special Trail of the Month feature on Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's Web site, and coverage in Rails to Trails magazine. The five-year program will run through December 2011 when the 25th—and final—Rail-Trail Hall of Fame inductee will be selected to coincide with Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's 25th Anniversary.

 

 

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