County-wide bike and pedestrian draft plan available

The finalized draft of the Dubois County Bike and Pedestrian Trail Master Plan is now available to download or check out online.

The planning process for the comprehensive plan began late last year when the Indiana State Department of Health awarded the committee formed to create a plan a $20,000 bicycle and pedestrian master planning grant for the project. They also raised the $20,000 match for the grant through private donations.

Here is the link to the plan created by V.S. Engineering and Taylor Seifker Williams Design Group that outlines more than 275 miles of potential paths for bikes and pedestrians.

The plan calls for building about 58 miles of dedicated bike/pedestrian paths. The remaining paths will be added to county roads through the use of additional signs and route markers. The plan comes with a timeline for potential completion as well as suggestions for sources of funding for the projected preliminarily estimated to cost about $70 million to complete.

Although that is a daunting cost to complete all the projects listed in the plan, these routes would likely be completed in phases as funding became available through the state and local sources. The plan gives the county a foundation to begin to apply for those funds that could be available through the state agencies like the Indiana Department of Transportation.

Governor Holcomb has identified trail connectivity as one of the state’s focused initiatives.

Here is a recent story we did on this project.