RILEY, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV)– The first phase of the Riley Spur Trail project is officially underway.
The Vigo County highway department has finished the first pedestrian crossing for the trail on Lama Street, which reopened to the public on Tuesday. It’s the first of a number of similar crossings that will pop up around Riley, which is where a majority of the first phase is located.
Vigo County Commissioner Mark Clinkenbeard said he was happy to see progress after months of discussions.
“It’s pretty exciting, and I think people are seeing that this is actually going to happen,” he said. “I know I’ve heard from tons of people that they can’t wait to get on the trail and use it, so we’re just hoping by the end of the year we can have this first section done.”
Clinkenbeard said he has worked with volunteers to help clear some of the trails for the first phase, which includes a little less than two miles of the path from the Riley Town Hall building to Lama Street. He said they are currently waiting on several grants before they start picking up the construction in the area.
“A lot of this all depends on our funding. We’re waiting on grants, we hope to know something in the next 30 days, whether our grants come in. But we will continue things like this and doing more cleanup over the next couple of months,” he said.
The current timeline is to finish the first phase of this project by the end of 2023, which is dependent on the status of these grants.
