[IndianaTrails] muncie star press trail article

[Jeff Ray]

DNR to buy abandoned railroads for trails for Henry County
State to buy abandoned railroad lines.
By SETH SLABAUGH 
seths at muncie.gannett.com 
 1 Comment 

      NEW CASTLE -- Henry County's proposed Wilbur Wright Trail, Wooly Bear Parkway and National Road Heritage Trail received a big boost from the state of Indiana on Tuesday. 

      Gov. Mitch Daniels announced that the Indiana Department of Natural Resources has reached an agreement in principle to purchase more than 150 miles of abandoned railroad corridors throughout the state, including strips of land in Henry County. 


      "It's huge for Henry County because they don't have to pay for it," said Lenette Freeman, director of the 63-mile Cardinal Greenway that will connect Marion, Muncie and Richmond. "This makes their trail happen." 

      The planned Wilbur Wright trail will connect New Castle to the Cardinal Greenway at Losantville. 
      "We've still got a lot of work in front of us, but this purchase certainly is good news for trails in Henry County," said Jeff Ray, trails committee chairman for Healthy Communities of Henry County. 

      Besides improving the state's health and quality of life, which are important to economic development, the governor's Hoosiers on the Move trails initiative can bring the state together, according to Daniels. 

      When he brought trail enthusiast together for a sate-wide summit in June, 2006, Daniels said Hoosiers were divided politically, geographically, socially and economically. "We need more communitarianism in this state," he said. 

      DNR is working with the owners of the former Penn Central railroad to purchase pieces of the line in 39 counties. The state agency plans to give the land to local governments and non-profit groups for future trail development. 

      "What the state is buying is not continuous parcels," Ray said. "Parts of it have been sold off since the mid 1980s when it was abandoned. Being able to get any of the corridor is helpful, but we still have to acquire other sections from private land owners before we can put the trails in." 

      Of the three planned trails in Henry County, Wilbur Wright is furthest along. Phase one of that trail -- a two-mile segment from the Henry County YMCA in New Castle to Wilbur Wright Fish and Wildlife Area -- is under design. 

      The 150 miles is in addition to 173 miles of rail trails already built in the state. 


      a.. Contact senior reporter Seth Slabaugh at 213-5834. 



                 Post a Comment   View All Comments  
                  The reader comments below do not reflect the opinion of The Star Press and are the responsibility of the individual author.  

--------------------------------------------------------------------
                 this is great news for New Castle.

                  Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2007 7:23 am 

--------------------------------------------------------------
                 
                  Post a Comment   View All Comments  
           

      Originally published December 5, 2007
     
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://indianatrails.org/pipermail/list_indianatrails.org/attachments/20071208/f98916fe/attachment.html 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/gif
Size: 488 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://indianatrails.org/pipermail/list_indianatrails.org/attachments/20071208/f98916fe/attachment.gif 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/gif
Size: 1126 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://indianatrails.org/pipermail/list_indianatrails.org/attachments/20071208/f98916fe/attachment-0001.gif 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/gif
Size: 69 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://indianatrails.org/pipermail/list_indianatrails.org/attachments/20071208/f98916fe/attachment-0002.gif 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/gif
Size: 69 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://indianatrails.org/pipermail/list_indianatrails.org/attachments/20071208/f98916fe/attachment-0003.gif