A plan for bike trails in the Culver area was presented during last week’s town council meeting. The Troyer Group has been working for over six months to put together a master plan for bike and pedestrian facilities.
After meeting with residents and other interested groups, Troyer Group representative Mike Reese said the group has narrowed down the project to a few main goals. “Some of the things that really seemed to be the priorities were the trail around the lake, making a fully-designated, 10-foot-wide, multi-use trail that went all around Lake Maxinkuckee; bringing people downtown; connecting the park and Culver Academies to downtown,” Reese said. A longer-term goal involves tying Culver’s planned trails into regional systems planned for Marshall County and beyond.
In order to build the bike trail system around the lake, the Troyer Group has divided the project into six phases. The first involves constructing trails through the town itself, connecting Downtown Culver to the Town Park and Culver Academies.
Reese says it would be one of the easiest sections to construct, since no property acquisition would be needed. “A decent portion of it is through the park, so the town already owns that,” he said. “And then, continuing through the park, up through the railroad corridor, it’s like the trail has been paved through there. You just have to put the pavement down and probably some lighting for safety and security through there. For all those reasons, we feel that this stretch would be a great first phase, and it’s something that would be very visible for the town to help create some of that momentum to get the future phases built, as well.”
But in order to fit a separated, 10-foot-wide path, Reese says a reconfiguration of Washington Street may be necessary. “In the engineering phase, we’d be able to figure out exactly what those dimensions are between the right-of-way, looking at parking, perhaps making it one-way,” he said. “With some of the other one- way streets, if there’s a logical way to do that, that would be a good way to reduce the pavement necessary for vehicles.”
That first phase, just over eight-tenths of a mile, is expected to cost just over $1 million. That money may come from several different sources, including the Indiana Department of Transportation, the Regional Cities initiative, or funding from the town.
The other five future phases would connect the trail with Culver Community Schools and then eventually around Lake Maxinkuckee. Due to right-of-way issues, Reese said the trail would likely have to be located a bit farther away from the lake in many areas, since the roads closest to the lake would not be able to accommodate a separated trail. Similarly, efforts will be taken to avoid cutting through the Culver Academies campus, due to potential safety issues. Reese also discussed the possibility of building a boardwalk through the Lake Maxinkuckee Wetland Conservation Area.
