Riverside-Jackson Trail Connects Residential & Commercial Districts to Ball State University and IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital Campuses.
By Muncie-Delaware Economic Development Alliance—
MUNCIE, IN—The new trail along Riverside Avenue between Tillotson Avenue and Morrison Road is now complete and builds upon decades of efforts within Muncie and Delaware County to increase and improve pedestrian connectivity. A ribbon cutting was held on Wednesday, November 15th at 2 PM at the Westminster Presbyterian Church.
The 1.2-mile-long trail and reconstruction of Riverside Avenue was born out of a 2019 Indiana DNR Next Level Trails grant awarded to the Delaware Advancement Corporation. Through public input and willing partners, the project was able to increase in scope to include storm water improvements, the reconstruction of Riverside Ave, and the planting of over 80 native trees that will help diversify and strengthen the city’s tree canopy.
“After careful planning, based primarily on the public input meetings in 2019, a broad community partnership formed to address stormwater issues, automobile travel speeds, and traffic back-ups — all concerns of the public — that further enhance the pedestrian trail being built along Riverside Avenue.” says Elizabeth Rowray, President of the Delaware Advancement Corporation. The trail addition connects the Morrison Road Trail to Tillotson Avenue/Ball State University and includes a new sidewalk connection to the Catalina Swim Club on Clarkdale Avenue.
Photo by Mike Rhodes
The total investment in the pedestrian, vehicular, and stormwater improvements came in just shy of 4 million dollars, with 98% of the funding originating from federal, state, and local grants.
Delaware Advancement Corporation was awarded a Department of Natural Resources Next Level Trail Grant, an East Central Indiana Regional Development Authority trail grant out of its funding from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation’s Regional Cities Initiative, and a Ball Brothers Foundation grant to plant native trees. The Muncie Sanitary District is funding the stormwater and road improvements through the American Recovery Plan.
“This is Muncie at its best. We are making quality of place improvements in an area of town where owner-occupied housing demand is high, an area lacking in safe pedestrian travel routes. We are closing gaps in Muncie’s incredible existing trail network. We are using limited local tax dollars to leverage state and federal financial resources. All of this is in response to public input gathered at the onset of the trail project,” explained Elizabeth Rowray.
While not directly tied to the trail project, the City of Muncie used an INDOT Community Crossings grant to cover road improvements at the Riverside and Jackson Street intersection, including a road diet at the Jackson – Riverside intersection that will help slow the travel speeds of vehicles along Jackson Street.
FlatLand Resources and IXOYE Engineering provided project management and design services for the projects, with 3D Company and E&B Paving being the primary contractors for the trail and road projects, respectively.
About Muncie-Delaware County, Indiana Economic Development Alliance
The Alliance (EDA) represents a consortium of economic development entities dedicated to the growth and prosperity of Muncie-Delaware County, Indiana. Their purpose is to allocate and leverage economic development resources to sustain and enhance the economic growth, vitality, and global competitiveness of Muncie-Delaware County as a superior business location. Services include site location assistance, retention and expansion of existing businesses, and customized research for business prospects considering Muncie-Delaware County, Indiana.
