The Marion County Park District announced on Tuesday the awarding of a $500,000 Clean Ohio Trails Fund grant for construction of several additional miles of the Tallgrass Trail.
This grant will be paired with $167,000 in local matching funds and used for trail construction in 2016. The matching funds were all provided by supporters, with the donors of the Marion Community Foundation and the members of the Marion Rotary Club leading the way.
2016 will mark the third consecutive year of substantial growth for the Tallgrass Trail. The Marion County Park District purchased the abandoned rail corridor from CSX in 2009 and completed a short demonstration section in 2010, beginning at the trailhead facility at 2093 Holland Road West.
Phase two of the trail, completed in 2014 by Kokosing Construction of Mansfield, extended the paved corridor 3.5 miles to Espyville Road. In phase three this year, Crabtree Enterprises of Marion added an additional 3.6 miles of trail to Osbun Road, making a total of 7.3 miles of pavement. The trail runs east and west between Ohio 95 and Ohio 309.
The 2015 project finished under budget, allowing the park district to contract for additional clearing and rough grading of an additional two miles of trail corridor between Osbun Road and Dry Lane Road over the next two months. Trail volunteers will work over the winter to clear the corridor from Dry Lane Road to Ohio 37.
The recently announced grant award is for phase four of the trail construction project, which should extend the pavement by about three miles to near Ohio 37, about 1.5 miles north of LaRue. The 2016 section will pass through the village of DeCliff, adding a small parking area near the trail.
CT Consultants will begin design of the 2016 section of trail in January, with bidding anticipated for late winter or early spring. Once a winning bidder is selected by the park district based on CT’s recommendation, construction will likely begin in May and continue through the summer.
The county park district hopes to apply for a grant this winter to continue construction in 2017, if sufficient local matching funds can be raised via donations. The park district plans to eventually extend the trail to the Hardin County line, a distance of 12.4 miles from the start.
“We’re so very grateful to the many generous people who have given their time and money to make this trail a reality,” said county park board chairman Dan Sheridan. “When I see hundreds of people enjoying the trail over the course of a beautiful autumn day, I can’t stop smiling.”
Park district officials remind trail users to be very cautious at intersections, and ask motorists to slow down and be alert as they pass the trail.
The corridor that is now the Tallgrass Trail originated as the Chicago and Atlantic Railroad, opening in 1883. According to an 1886 timetable, passengers could leave Chicago at 8:20 a.m. and arrive in Marion at 7:10 pm the same day. The railroad changed hands several times, serving most recently as the Erie Lackawanna before most of the assets of that firm were acquired by Conrail in 1976 and regular train service on the line ceased. The tracks were removed in 1983, and the corridor was abandoned for 26 years until the park district acquired the land in 2009 with the help of donations and a Clean Ohio Green Space grant.
Getting There
The eastern terminus of the Marion Tallgrass Trail begins at 2093 Holland Road West, 1.7 miles west of Marion. A large paved parking lot is available at the start of the trail. Parking is also available in an Ohio Division of Wildlife stone parking lot just south of the trail on Ohio 203, and trail users are permitted to park at the Espyville Baptist Church when services are not in session, with the understanding that the church is not responsible for property damage.
Learn More
Additional information about the Tallgrass Trail and other Marion County Parks is available at www.MarionCountyParks.info, at Facebook pages for the Marion County Park District or the Marion Tallgrass Trail, or by leaving a message for naturalist James Anderson on the park district answering machine at 740-223-4161.
How You Can Help
Donations can be made to the Prairie Parks Foundation, a non-profit 501(c)3, at PO Box 651, Marion, OH, 43301. Donations may also be made on-line via the link on the park district web site. Volunteers are also needed to help clear or maintain trail and to help with various programs.
For more information about volunteering or donating, leave a message for naturalist James Anderson on the park district answering machine at 740-223-4161.
About Marion Online News
