COLUMBIANA CO. Officials to fix up area by bridge

Work to install a roadside trail in the area has begun.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
SALEM -- Columbiana County officials are trying to make it more convenient to visit a scenic patch of public property in Salem Township.
Nearly $85,000 in state grant funding has been earmarked to pave parking lots off Eagleton Road, said Bob Durbin, deputy county engineer.
The lots will provide parking for visitors to the newly reconstructed Teegarden Centennial Covered Bridge and the Greenway Trail, a nearly 12-mile-long pathway stretching between Lisbon and Leetonia.
The stretch of trail near the bridge is one of the path's most scenic. The area is known as Eagleton's Glen, which features steep, wooded hillsides and the rushing waters of Little Beaver Creek.
Many visitors access the Greenway at Eagleton's Glen. But the parking lots there are unimproved. The one closest to the bridge is rutted and muddy in wet weather.
Paving is expected to start in late summer.
The lot near the bridge, which no longer is open to vehicle traffic, will accommodate about 35 cars. The other lot will have spaces laid out for about 10 recreational vehicles, Durbin said.
It's unclear whether motor homes or camping trailers can remain at the site overnight, he added.
Wall to be built
After the lots are built, crews will construct a nearly 4-foot-high wall along one edge of the lot closest to the bridge, Durbin said.
The wall will be fashioned from hewn sandstone blocks the county has collected over the years when old bridge abutments were replaced.
The wall will prevent four-wheel-drive vehicles from accessing an off-limits dirt pathway next to Little Beaver Creek.
Along with the $85,000 the state is providing for the project, the county is putting in about $15,000.
The county's share will come from its road and bridge fund, which is supplied through a gasoline tax and license plate fees.
Another project
Crews recently began work on a separate project that is part of the virtually completed, $295,000 covered-bridge restoration, which was funded with county, state and federal money.
A section of Eagleton Road is being widened between the covered bridge, which sits just off the road, and the Greenway Trail, which crosses Eagleton about 300 feet from the bridge.
The widened roadway will accommodate a biking and walking path connecting the bridge, the parking lots and the trail.
The walkway will make it safer for cyclists and pedestrians to view the bridge and to reach the Greenway, Durbin said.
leigh@vindy.com