Thursday, March 29, 2001
The total cost of the bike and hike trail project in Trumbull County is $1.3 million.
BY REBECCA SLOAN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Trumbull County commissioners allocated $270,000 toward development of the Western Reserve Greenway Trail, a 13-mile bicycle and hiking trail to be constructed in Champion, Bristol and Bloomfield townships.
Alan Knapp, of the county's planning commission, said the trail will start near Kent State University's Trumbull Campus and continue along an abandoned Penn Central Railroad bed through Bristol and Bloomfield to the northern county border.
Bigger picture: The Trumbull County trail is just a portion of the entire Greenway project, which when complete will run from East Liverpool in Columbiana County to Lake Erie in Ashtabula County.
Knapp said parts of the trail are already complete in Columbiana and Mahoning counties.
The county will pay $10,000 in 2001 toward engineering costs and the remaining $260,000 in 2002 or 2003, when construction of the trail begins.
Cost estimate: The entire cost of the project in Trumbull County is estimated at $1.3 million. Eighty percent of that amount will be paid by a Bicycle and Pedestrian Facility Grant from the Ohio Department of Transportation.
To obtain this grant, commissioners committed $101,000 of county funds in August 1999. Wednesday's commitment of funds adds an additional $158,000 for a total commitment of $260,000 toward construction.
Besides the county's $10,000 commitment toward engineering costs for the design of the bike path, the Park Commission and Friends of the Western Reserve hope to obtain a Surface Transportation Funds grant and a Wean Foundation Grant to help pay the $175,000 in total engineering costs.
The Friends of the Western Reserve Greenway Group has also raised about $8,000 through fund-raisers to help cover engineering costs.
Conservation: This group and other area agencies hatched the plan for the bike trail a few years ago. Greenways are corridors of protected open space intended for conservation and recreation.
Besides hiking and biking, the trail will also be used for cross-country skiing, snowmobiling and horseback riding.