By Keith Roysdon—
Delaware County, IN – People who walk, run or bike on Delaware County’s trails enjoy their recreational opportunities, but also their convenience for access to retail stores, restaurants and other businesses. They appreciate the added safety factor, since trails act as sidewalks along busy streets and roads.
And now the Delaware County commissioners are adding even more trail mileage in one of the area’s most traffic-intensive business districts.
The county has announced 1.5 miles of new trail added to several miles of recent county-built trails in the growing business district in the northwest corner of Muncie, north of McGalliard Road.
“Ensuring that we provide safe alternative routes of travel in our busiest areas helps to promote a healthy form of travel for our citizens, reduces greenhouse emissions and builds a recreational network amenity,” said Delaware County Commissioner President James King. “I’m always encouraged that we’re doing the right thing when I drive by and see young families out walking and biking on our trails.”
The county has in recent years built a north-south trail along Morrison Road between the Jackson Street roundabout and McGalliard Road as well as a trail running east and west through the Lyndenbrook commercial district.
The new stretch of trail—which ceremoniously broke ground on May 13—will be built along Fox Ridge Lane, starting north of IHOP, from Chadam Lane to North Everbrook Lane, then south to McGalliard Road at STAR Bank, then along McGalliard to Oakwood Avenue. The trail will run along the north side of McGalliard until Tillotson Avenue, where a pedestrian crossing currently exists. From that point to Oakwood Avenue, the trail will run along the south side of McGalliard.
“This is an important project to Delaware County,” said Brad Bookout, Director of Municipal and Economic Affairs for Delaware County. “When you think about infrastructure in Muncie and Delaware County, there are places where you can drive and see no sidewalks, no trails. That infrastructure should have been put in decades ago. It wasn’t. The current county commissioners are making up for that now and putting that infrastructure in place.”
Bookout said United Construction Services was the low bidder on the $1.18 million project, which came in below the engineering estimate. The project will be paid for using tax increment financing (TIF) revenue from the area.
The new trail, which will be six to eight feet wide, will do even more to connect people to their jobs and to busy hotels, restaurants and stores. The trail will help connect Ball State University students to the Lyndenbrook commercial district in the northwest corner of the city as well as heavy foot traffic in the area during Ball State football games.
Bookout said the county trails in the area, including the new trail, were an outgrowth of not only convenience and recreational needs but also safety: In 2019, a pedestrian was hit by a vehicle on McGalliard Road near Walmart and hospitalized. In 2020, a man was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver along Morrison Road south of the existing county trail terminus at the West Jackson Street roundabout. Since recognizing an increase in pedestrian traffic in the area in the early 2000s, several county administrations have worked toward constructing trails and sidewalks.
“We’re hopefully preventing future accidents by adding this public safety infrastructure,” Bookout said.
The new trail will serve the hundreds of renters who are part of the significant growth of apartment complexes in the area, including apartments north of Bethel Avenue.
Trail users are enthusiastic about more new trails.
Kelley Stewart, CEO and founder of Sit-Stay-Play, a pet-sitting service, regularly walks dogs along local trails. Trails make it possible to safely exercise and recreate pets in heavy traffic areas like the city’s northwest corner.
“I’ve been all over Muncie and use the trails personally for biking and skating and professionally as a dog walker,” she said. “I’d love to see more trails, especially out in the Lydenbrook area, because currently pedestrians must either walk on the road, in business yards or in parking lots. This makes it difficult for some individuals. A new trail expansion would give pedestrians safer and easier access to businesses and apartment communities near Lydenbrook, which again, would increase Muncie’s ‘livability factor.’”
John Disher is vice president of the board for Cardinal Greenway, the dean of trails in East Central Indiana, including Muncie. “I am a proponent of walking, running, cycling, you name it to get out and move to improve our individual health,” he said. “Extending sidewalks and trails provides access for not only those wishing to exercise and recreate but also a means of active transportation for those without access to motorized vehicles or those who choose to use alternative modes of transportation.
“In my case, I enjoy utilizing safe routes to cycle to stores, restaurants and work. The Morrison sidepath is a great example of a safer way for me to bike towards the White River Greenway and other points in Muncie. Living near the Morrison Road sidepath and other northwest Muncie sidewalks, I frequently observe and encounter individuals using these resources to access businesses on foot and by bicycle and witness them carrying bags of goods from these stores towards apartment complexes, and I myself have frequented a nearby home improvement store via my bike to purchase small items. I believe it is important to provide opportunities for pedestrians and cyclists to be safe and separated from busy traffic as a way of encouraging active transportation.”
Cheryl Lindus is a longtime communications industry executive and avid trail user. “Creating trails provides a safe, user friendly space walkers and cyclists can enjoy outdoors while eliminating concerns about being on the roads among automobiles,” she said. “I’m much more comfortable when on the trails, especially on my bike.
“For me, personally, I find a sense of community when I’m on a trail. The addition of trails brings people together. I often see the same friendly faces of like-minded people who are striving to live a healthier, more active life. Those connections are vital to good physical and mental health.
“I’ve long wanted to feel like I was in a year round outdoor friendly market. The trails have given me that sense of having a place to be outdoors even in the colder months. I wouldn’t have that same sense if the primary access in winter is using the roads.
“Neighborhood trails enhance any community. Creating and promoting good health by adding a safe venue brings people together. For those without transportation, the safety of having a trail is significant. I often see people on Morrison Road and on Bethel, using the trail for access to shopping. I’ve enjoyed exploring the Morrison Road trail along with walking riding my bike along White River and connecting out past Nebo Road toward Yorktown. I wouldn’t have explored these areas without trail access.”
The Delaware County Commissioners in cooperation with the Delaware County Redevelopment Commission have earmarked over $11.5 Million in the last six years for trail and sidewalk projects in heavy pedestrian traveled areas. On the north side of Muncie, that includes the Morrison Road TIF area and points east. Areas south of Muncie have included the Industria Center area connecting south side neighborhoods with the variety industrial businesses, Ivy Tech, the new Muncie Career Center and the Justice Center along south Tillotson.
About Delaware County Economic Development
In 2015 the Delaware County Commissioners privatized the County’s economic development activities. Since that time, the County has developed its own business retention and expansion programs that are in constant contact with the multitude of industry within the County. In addition, efforts to identify and attract various suitable industry throughout the world are undertaken on an annual basis. For more information, contact Brad Bookout at bbookout@augustaconsultingllc.com.
