Major trail in the works for Norwalk

NORWALK — A new 2-mile walking and biking path to connect the Ernsthausen Recreation Center to Veterans Memorial Lake Park is funded and scheduled for construction. "The project is planned to be bid for construction this winter with construction beginning in 2022," said Aaron Osborn, Norwalk's public works director. "We could not have done this without the city administration and ODOT understanding the importance of this project to our community." The Norwalk Multi-Use Path, costing about $1.4 million with most of the tab picked up by the state, will stretch across much of the city and will tie together many important recreation sites and existing paths, Osborn said. "The multi-use path will connect the Alex Waite Trail at the city of Norwalk Reservoir to the Norwalk Area Friends of Youth Sports/Norwalk Area Contractors Park, Whitney Field, the Lefty Grove Baseball Fields, the Norwalk City Ernsthausen Recreation Center, the North Coast Inland Trail, USBR 30, and USBR 65 along with residential and commercial areas in the community," Osborn said in an email. "It will truly be a valued asset for the city residents." "USBR 30" refers to U.S. Bike Route 30, which runs from Detroit through Toledo and Norwalk, then on to Cleveland and Erie, Pennsylvania, with much of it along the North Coast Inland Trail. The other bicycle route Osborn referenced, State Bike Route 65, runs south from Sandusky through Norwalk and Mansfield and points beyond, including Newark, Lancaster and Ironton. The North Coast Inland Trail runs through several counties in northern Ohio and is still uncompleted in some places; Huron County has a 20-mile stretch from Bellevue through Monroeville and Norwalk to Collins. The Ohio Department of Transportation's Transportation Alternatives Program provided a $1.2 million grant for the project, Osborn said. "As you can imagine, we couldn't have done this without the grant funds from ODOT. They deserve a big thank you." Osborn said. The new path will be 10 feet wide and will run about two miles. And like many trails in the U.S., it will take advantage of an old train line. "The multi-use path will primarily utilize the abandoned railroad corridor owned by the city, including extending through the underpass bridges at Cleveland Road and East Main Street," Osborn said. "A segment of the multi-use path will be constructed adjacent to the existing Akron shoulder. A segment from East Main Street to Schauss Avenue and a segment along Gallup Avenue and Republic Street will widen the existing sidewalk to create the proposed multi-use path," he said. "The section along Gallup Avenue will be complemented with the city and Ohio Public Works Commission project to upgrade Gallup Avenue between Milan Avenue and Republic Street with new curb/gutter, manhole rehab, driveway approach and street resurfacing project," he said.