Yesterday, Mayors Tom Henry and Terry McDonald held a press conference on the Towpath Trail along the old Wabash and Erie Canal right-of-way on Fort Wayne's southwest side to announce support of a national Rails to Trail effort to have more trails funds included in the 2010 federal funding for transportation. Karen Goldner and I were also in attendance.
Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard is also supportive of the effort.
Federal transportation monies may or may not be increased for trail funding. In any event, any such funds are years away.
State funds continue to be applied to trails. These range from the dollars for the original development of the Rivergreenway trail to a substantial grant in the past year. Governor Daniels has been committed to trail development in the state.
The interesting thing about trail acquisition and trail improvement is the large amount of private foundation and individual support that have been pledged for trail development. This was very much in demonstration on Monday on the Towpath Trail - most dramatically, about 3/4 of a mile east of the press conference site.
Wayne Asphalt on Monday began paving the Towpath Trail on the east side of Smith Road and began the work on a segment on the west side of Smith Road which will connect with the existing paved section west of Smith.
Roger Goodland of the Greenway Consortium visited the site late Monday afternoon and was gratified by the work moving swiftly. Much of the Towpath has been funded by substantial in-kind land donations and private donations both to the Greenway Consortium for the area within the city limits and the Aboite New Trails group for areas outside the city limits.
City Greenway Coordinator Dawn Ritchie requested that those attending yesterday's event consider riding their bicycles to the event. I did so and was certainly not the only one. One bicyclist - a neighborhood resident who regularly exercises on his bicycle on the Towpath since it opened - is 85 years old.
Later, I visited the new section. I'm fairly certain my bicycle wheels were the first on the pavement on the new section on the east side of Smith.
I remember many years ago a plan to convert unused rail lines around the state to bicycle/walking paths. It did not make it as I remember, I know locally they tried to do the same thing but ran into right of way conflicts.
Ed. note: Various rail-to-trail projects have either been completed or are in process in Indiana. The path from Lawton Park to Auburn and beyond along the old Fort Wayne and Jackson rail line is one example.
Indeed, various parts of that pathway are already done in Allen County as Northeastern Development paved the old right of way as it developed various subdivisions adjacent to the old railway. It now needs connectivity and extension. And those plans are well along with the State of Indiana, private sources and the City of Fort Wayne all participating.
Corridors such as the Cardinal Greenway - stretching from Richmond to Marion - have had large sections completed and open.
Governor Mitch Daniels is a strong proponent and has made huge strides for Indiana in targeting new corridors and providing funding strategies.
What you may be remembering is the legal battle over the question of reversionary rights of abandoned railroads that the Indiana Farm Bureau was engaged in. While that resulted in decisions which made for a more complicated legal environment in acquisition and conversion of old railroad right of way for use as trails it certainly did not totally foreclose it by any means.
Posted by: Mark King | October 23, 2008 at 11:17 AM