Grant will add miles to bike trail

In five years, the trail is to reach from Lake Erie to the Ohio River.
& lt;a href=mailto:siff@vindy.com & gt;By STEPHEN SIFF & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- The Trumbull County Planning Commission has been awarded a $1 million grant to continue construction of the local portion of the Great Ohio Lake to River Greenway Trail.
The first section of the trail constructed by the county, from Kent State University Trumbull Campus to state Route 88, is scheduled for completion in November.
On Wednesday, planning commission officials announced getting a $1 million Federal Highway Administration grant to allow construction to continue on an additional 6.2 miles north next year, from Route 88 in Bristol to the Ashtabula County line.
The grant does not require any additional local money, said commission director Gary Newbrough.
What's planned
The 10-foot-wide, paved path will be maintained by Trumbull MetroParks and is expected to become part of a trail system officials say will connect Lake Erie to the Ohio River within five years.
The total construction cost for Trumbull MetroParks' section of the trail is expected to be $2.7 million. Of that, only $270,000 will be local funds, Newbrough said.
The commission would not have been able to get the latest grant if engineering studies for the bike trail had not already been complete, he said.
The northern Trumbull County trail should be completed in time to connect to a usable trail on the other side of the Ashtabula County line, he said.
The cities of Niles and Warren are also working on plans to extend the trail through their communities.
The Mahoning Bikeway, the section of the Greenway through Mahoning County, has been completed for the past few years.