According to the Palladium-Item, the State will hold five open forums for public comment on the Indiana Trails Plan in the wake of Daniels announcement that he is doubling funding for the state’s recreational trails from $10 million to $20 million in the next fiscal year.
Meetings are 6-8 p.m. local time.
- Thursday: Madison, Clifty Inn, Clifty Falls State Park.
- Tuesday: North Judson, Kankakee Fish and Wildlife Area conference room.
- June 22: Indianapolis, Fort Benjamin Harrison State Park, The Garrison.
- June 27: Fort Wayne, Franke Park Pavilion.
- June 29: Winslow, Sugar Ridge Fish and Wildlife Area cofnerence room.
The Indiana Trails Plan is available here.
Wow. I must say I had to look “North Judson” and “Winslow” up on Google Earth when searching for what one will be closest to Columbus. I don’t get too far off the Interstate except for Bartholomew, Brown, and Jackson counties.
I’m actually glad they picked some out of the way places, though. Everything doesn’t need to be in Indianapolis, South Bend, Bloomington, Evansville, and Fort Wayne.
North Judson is actually not too far away from where I live in Monticello. I too was unfamiliar with Winslow which, a quick map search reveals, is in the southwestern part of the state, not too far from Evansville.
Okay, I live and work in North Judson, so I suppose I’m not too objective — but if you look at a map of potential rail-trails in northern Indiana, you’ll see several converge on North Judson, an old rail town. One of the key things in Gov. Daniels’ trail initiative is recognition that rural areas need to be crossed to create an integrated network. A rail-trail link between Indianapolis and Chicago will almost inevitably go through North Judson, and one between South Bend and Lafayette is likely to as well.