Holmes County Park District advances final trail phase, repair projects

The Holmes County Park District's board met Sept. 16 to discuss some upcoming projects that should enhance the traveling pleasure of those utilizing the Holmes County Rails-to-Trails' services.

The first was the trail construction project of phase 5C.2.

According to Jen Halverson, park district director, the final plans for the project have been submitted to Ohio Department of Transportation, and the board is now waiting on the final environmental permit, which will take a couple months, according to Halverson.

The board members signed the title page needed to provide to ODOT as the final piece of the puzzle.

“If all goes well with the environmental permit, we hope to be advertising for bid after the first of the year, more than likely,” Halverson said. “Hopefully, that project can start next summer, and that would then be the end of (the trail project).”

That portion of the trail work includes the final phase of the entire project, the stretch ranging from state Route 520 back into Killbuck.

“I might actually be around to see this thing finished,” board member Dan Mathie said.

Concerning the construction on the trail from Glenmont to state Route 520, Halverson said work there is basically complete with minor work to be done. She said the trail is now open and people are already enjoying using that new portion of the trail.

“I’ve set the evening of Oct. 1 as a trail celebration date,” Halverson said. “It’s a time to bring everybody together — all the players and partners and stakeholders — so we can recognize everyone.”

One other aspect of the board’s discussion centered around repair work on the trail that extends from the first bridge north of Millersburg all the way south to Killbuck.

Halverson said the board received one bid for the repair work from Melway Paving of Holmes County in the amount of $763,200.

While she said that amount is a tad over the estimated cost they had expected, it is within the threshold for which they can award the project out for bid.

“We can come in under budget because we have about $800,000 in grants for this project,” Halverson said. “Most of our funding will cover construction and engineer expenses.”

Halverson then produced a letter from Palmer Engineering, which did the plans for the project, saying the board can accept the bid for the project, along with a resolution notifying Melway it has been awarded the bid.

The board quickly accepted all measures presented, and Halverson said the project will begin shortly, with hopes of getting all the asphalt work done before this winter, with the placement of chip and seal expected to be done next spring.

Originally constructed from 2006-07, with partial repairs in 2014, this heavily traveled stretch has experienced significant surface wear, particularly from the unique traffic it supports such as bicycles, pedestrians and horse-drawn buggies.

“If they can get the grinding and asphalt work done this fall, that would be great,” Halverson said.

The project will include the grinding of old asphalt, especially in the buggy lane where troughs are developing. There also will be work done near Killbuck on both the pedestrian/bike and buggy lanes, where ridges have developed due to tree root growth.

“It will be nice to get new asphalt over significant stretches of the trail,” Halverson said.

Halverson also met with Jason Biltz of Tekton Engineering, who is steering work at Legacy Point Park and provided an update on the progress taking place at Holmes County’s newest park facility.

“The trails (at Legacy Point) are in excellent shape right now,” Halverson said. “They are super-wide. They mowed them a few weeks ago, and it looks great.”

She said Biltz is making significant progress on the next Legacy Point trail, a 2 1/2-mile trail that will skirt the perimeter of the park, will be open to hikers and horseback riders, and will provide emergency access.

She said it should be open in approximately two months.

Halverson also said she has several workdays and nature hikes planned, with hopes of getting people out there to explore the property in a guided nature tour setting.

The board also agreed to accept a memorandum of operation agreement with American Electric Power for an easement saying during any work they do, the trail will remain open and signage will notify trailer users of all construction.

In addition, the agreement says AEP will use mats any time its workers cross the trail, and the trail base will be in as good or better condition than it was prior to any project work.