LORAIN — Federal funding was approved Friday for a key portion of an all-purpose trail that will run for much of the Black River’s 16 miles from its mouth in Lorain to its twin falls in Cascade Park in Elyria.
The 2.07-mile segment of trail costing $1.65 million will run along Colorado Avenue and the Black River in the area of the Henderson Memorial Bridge, according to Lorain County Metro Parks Director Jim Ziemnik.
The funding was approved by the governing board of the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency when it amended the state’s fiscal years 2012-15 Transportation Improvement Program with 25 transportation improvement projects.
The work on the bike and walking trail will likely be bid out in fall 2013 and completed in 2014, according to Ziemnik.
He said a 1.2-mile portion of the trail in the area of the Elyria Police Station will be the next part of the trail to be constructed. It likely will be bid out this year and finished in early 2013, he said.
The federal government is picking up 80 percent of the cost of the projects undertaken by the Metro Parks.
The trail will connect to the North Coast Inland Trail, which passes through Oberlin and Kipton.
Lorain County began planning for a regional bikeway system in 1992.
When completed, the plan would link Cleveland to Lorain to Toledo in coordination with the state’s official trail plan.
Contact Cindy Leise at 329-7245 or cleise@chroniclet.com.
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