As we’re certain you are aware, the federal government recently passed a stimulus bill to help jump-start the economy. In that bill is approximately $20,000,000 for the state of Indiana to use in its “Transportation Enhancement” program. It is that program, administered by the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT), that funds pedestrian trails in Indiana. Brown County’s Salt Creek Trail is aggressively seeking a portion of the funding. We need your help.
What we would like for you to do is e-mail State Representative Eric Koch (h65@iga.in.gov ), State Representative Peggy Welch (h60@iga.in.gov), State Senator Vi Simpson (s40@iga.in.gov) and Lt. Governor Becky Skillman (http://www.in.gov/lg/2935.htm from her Lt. Governor web site) and urge them to support funding for the Salt Creek Trail from the Transportation Enhancement program.
Both the west end of the trail (from CVS to the YMCA) and the east end (from the outdoor swimming pool in Brown County State Park to the west boundary of the school corporation’s Eagle Park) should be under construction within the next year. We have about half of the funds needed for the middle section of the trail, which will connect the east and west ends. Stimulus funding could put us over the top and hasten the completion of the full 2.5-mile, paved trail, a free, public facility for walking, running, biking, etc.
What will the trail do for our county? The recreation and health benefits of trails are obvious. Not so obvious is what communities that have trails are discovering–that trails are economic development engines. They create new businesses (bike shops, ice cream and drink stops, etc.), increase property values along the path, and bring new tourism dollars into the community.
Completion of the Salt Creek Trail has become urgent because of the successful Brown County State Park mountain-biking system, which was recently listed by a national magazine as the second-best mountain-biking trail network in the country. That trail is already bringing in new visitors and money, and as word spreads it will continue to increase in traffic in the weeks and months ahead. Completion of the Salt Creek Trail will allow mountain-bikers easy access from the State Park to Jefferson Street in Nashville, where their dollars will start showing up in shops, restaurants and lodging establishments.
We appreciate your help and look forward to completing the trail!
Bob Kirlin
Chairman, Salt Creek Trail Committee
Tom Tuley
Vice-chairman, Salt Creek Trail Committee
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