LORDSTOWN Bike trail project gets back on track

Running the path along the route of a planned waterline will help cut costs.
By SHERRI L. SHAULIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
LORDSTOWN -- A dramatic drop in the projected price could mean new life for the village's bike trail.
Last month, council members were torn over whether to aggressively pursue grants to build a bike path in the village or withdraw an application for funding that had received preliminary approval from the Eastgate Regional Council of Governments.
But after a meeting last week involving village officials and representatives from Eastgate and the Ohio Department of Transportation, the picture is a little brighter.
Covering costs
Initially, the village was thought to be responsible for the costs associated with design fees as well as 20 percent of the construction costs. Depending on which route the path took, the total project costs could have been $2 million or more, meaning the village would have to contribute $200,000 to $300,000.
Now, Planning and Zoning Administrator Ron Barnhart said the figure is expected to total about $1.1 million, especially if the bike trail follows the path of a waterline to be constructed in the village.
"About $100,000 would be for engineering, and the rest for construction," Barnhart said, noting the Issue II grant from Eastgate would cover all of the engineering costs and 80 percent of the construction. "That would mean about $20,000 or $30,000 would be the responsibility of the village."
The proposed path would run from the village's administration building along the south side of Salt Springs Road and into Weathersfield Township just on the other side of the Mahoning Valley Sanitary District plant and offices.
Mayor Michael A. Chaffee, who attended the meeting with Barnhart, said he was pleased with the new information, especially since council was hesitant to dismiss the project altogether.
"I thought we were pushing it a little to drop the deal without getting some cost figures," he said.
Connections
The project is able to cut costs by combining the bike path route with the waterline, which will stretch from the MVSD into the center of the village to increase the water supply to the General Motors complex. The village is funding that project with federal and state grants.
By using easements already secured through that project, the village should be able to run about 6.1 miles of the bike path from the administration building to hook up with similar bike paths being developed from the Mahoning County line, through Weathersfield Township and into downtown Niles. Once in downtown Niles, the path would follow city streets to the city limits on the other side of town.
An added perk of constructing a bike path and connecting it to the one in Weathersfield would be disproving the idea that Lordstown is in a remote location, Chaffee said.
"We may be able to overcome the obstacle of people thinking Lordstown's very far out there," he said. "We really aren't. We're just as close to downtown Warren as Howland is, but you never hear anyone complaining that Howland is out of the way."
Once the village learns its funding is approved, construction could begin by mid-2006.
slshaulis@vindy.com