WARREN Greenway plan will be unveiled

Construction could begin early next year.
By STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Plans for a 15-mile section of the Western Reserve Greenway in northern Trumbull County will be unveiled at a public meeting Wednesday.
The plans, fruit of a $170,000 study by DLZ Ohio Inc., show how the walking and bike path link with planned paths in Ashtabula County and the city of Warren. They'll be announced at 7 p.m. Wednesday in lecture hall A of the classroom/administration building at Kent State University Trumbull Campus.
Construction date set
Construction on the trail in Champion, Bristol and Bloomfield is slated to begin early next year, officials say. This section of trail, to be maintained by Trumbull County MetroParks, will eventually become a link in the Great Ohio Lake-to-River Greenway, connecting Lake Erie to the Ohio River. It is being constructed on a old Penn Central rail line.
The Ohio Department of Transportation has pledged more than $1 million to the northern Trumbull County section of the project, which has been matched by $260,000 from Trumbull County Commissioners.
"It's moving along," said Julie Green, a planner with the Trumbull County Planning Commission.
When complete, the paved path will be 10 feet wide, with a two-to-three-foot berm on either side. Plans now call for paved parking lots at trail heads on state Route 305, state Route 87 and Hyde-Oakfield Road. Restrooms will also be built, though their locations have not yet been determined, Green said.
Motorized vehicles will not be permitted on most of the path, though MetroParks officials plan to allow snowmobiles north of state Route 87 when conditions permit.
Officials in Niles and Warren are also in the process of working on plans for sections of the trail through their communities.
The Eastgate Regional Council of Governments paid for 80 percent of engineering costs for this section of trail, with the balance coming from county commissioners and donations to Friends of the Western Reserve Greenway.