Shown from left are Kosciusko County Department of Parks and Recreation Board members Aggie Sweeney, Rob Bishop and Mike Cusick. Photo by Jackie Gorski, Times-Union

By Jackie Gorski
Times-Union

KOSCIUSKO COUNTY — Safety and drainage concerns for the Chinworth Trail extension were brought to the attention of the Kosciusko County Department of Parks and Recreation Board Thursday, July 18.

John Nelson, project site manager with Triad, said over 30 letters went out about the extension project. There is a meeting scheduled with the neighbors on Aug. 1 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Crazy Egg Cafe. Nelson said he would be there and asked for park board members to be there if possible.

The plan is to go through the design plan with homeowners.

Nelson said Triad is still working through the utility coordination issues it has seen. It took Nelson nearly a month to get to the right person with Brightspeed. From what Nelson discussed with one of Brightspeed’s engineers, the company is going to use a different route for the utility line. He doesn’t know how long the work will take, noting he saw an email it could take 60 to 90 days.

“It could be an issue with our construction schedule,” Nelson said, but he wasn’t certain because he doesn’t know when the construction will start and when Brightspeed’s work will be done.

Nelson said he didn’t want to put anyone in a panic, but there will be some coordination with some utilities.

Nelson also said he sent out an example of a crossing he found in Rome City on a state highway with a 45-mile speed limit at the crest of a hill. Sight distance is marginal, “not compared to what we have at 350 and Old 30.”

“So you’ve got a perfect example of what we’re trying to do right there. (Indiana Department of Transportation) approved that. Same set up and everything with the solar, power, Beacon, signage, cross walk,” Nelson said. He said he thinks they’re doing the right thing by replicating some of the things that have already been approved by INDOT.

Ron Truex said after June’s meeting, he thought going along the southside of Old 30 was a bad idea and going along the north side of the road was a better idea. There are five less driveways on the north side than the south “and two of those driveways go into the mobile home park with hundreds of cars.”

The other part that concerned Truex is about safety in crossing the trail over Old 30.

“We don’t know how many people are going to use this trail,” he said. He said there’s only a handful of people using the existing trail. He also thought the more people that use the Chinworth Trail, the higher the risk in crossing Old 30.

“You can put in flashing lights and all the things you want to do, but you can’t tell me people don’t have accidents at stop lights. You can’t predict that,” Truex said.

On top of that, there is still no restroom facilities on the trail. So a lot of money is going to be spent to extend the trail three-fourths of a mile and there’s going to be people who cross Old 30 to use the restroom at the Crazy Egg Cafe, so there’s the double the risk of someone getting hurt crossing Old 30.

“I think we really need to look at the safety factor and the cost factor,” he said. Just because there’s money to use for the extension, doesn’t mean something has to be done. Truex brought up concerns with cars possibly passing semis that slowed down for people crossing Old 30 and causing issues.

Drainage issues were also talked about.

Nelson said Triad is planning redraining an entire ditch on the north side of the trail, new driveway culverts and tying into their existing drainage system.

Phil Routh said he has two properties on the north side of Old 30 and has lived in the location for 60-plus years.

He wanted to make the parks board aware there is a 12-inch tile that runs in front of his property, as well as others.

For 50 years, his basement was dry. In 2014, there were three basements and one crawlspace that flooded. Routh’s basement flooded and caused several thousand dollars worth of damage. The county was contacted and it was found the tile was crushed by things like a utilities truck.

Routh said when he bought his property, he wanted a dry basement and had extra costs to ensure it stayed dry.

He also brought up concerns about an 18-inch tile. Routh talked to a neighbor who said he planned on plugging the tile. If that is done, it’s going to cause issues. He said drainage issues need to be addressed.

Board President Rob Bishop suggested Routh contact DNR about the tile being plugged because Bishop doesn’t know if that resident can do that. Bishop said the board is also working with Kosciusko County Highway Department Superintendent Steve Moriarty and the drainage issue is going to be fixed.

At the end of the meeting, Board Vice President Aggie Sweeney said the board is not putting out a request for proposals for the design/engineering for the Chinworth extension at this point.

Katie Clark, landscape architect and project manager at Taylor Siefker Williams (TSW) Design Group, presented an update on the trails master plan.

She said there were three public workshops on July 9, 10 and 11 in Warsaw, Syracuse and Silver Lake. There were about 40 people across the three meetings attend. The summary of those exercises and input will be available in the first part of next week.

There are five proposed routes for the trails. The first proposed route is the paddle and float, which is the Tippecanoe River blueway. The proposed route allows users to experience the Tippecanoe River blueway.

The second is the meander and explore route, which is the Tippecanoe River greenway. This proposed corridor type allows users to experience the Tippecanoe River corridor in a way that allows for exploration, education and active and passive education.

The third proposed route is called connections and culture, which is community-to-community routes. This proposed corridor type provides for the most direct connection between communities. The proposed route utilized the former Interurban Rail Line, which in some cases travels parallel to state routes and in others through primarily agricultural areas.

The fourth proposed route is tour and discover, which are recreational shared-routes. This proposed corridor type establishes “loops” throughout the county to provide multiple route options at varying lengths. These routes connect users to local destinations, open spaces and recreational opportunities. It is designed to accommodate users of all types and generally follow county roads, but utilize a shared-use path separate from the roadway.

The last proposed route is called commute and travel, which has on-street signed routes. This proposed corridor type allows users to experience the Tippecanoe River corridor in a way that allows for exploration, education and active and passive recreation. This corridor type largely travels adjacent to the Tippecanoe River and would be constructed in such a way that it protected existing vegetation and wetland habitats.

Clark said the end goal is have everything pulled together at the end of September for draft documents.