http://nwitimes.com/articles/2004/05/27/news/porter_county/406bbcb9ab0b178886256ea100072f46.txt
New bumps bedevil bike trail
PORTER: 'Not in my front yard,' residents tell officials
BY BRIAN WILLIAMS
Times Staff Writer
PORTER -- With the plans for Porter's 3.5-mile bike trail revised and
seemingly set in place last month, opponents suddenly have appeared.
Residents along Indiana Avenue, the proposed downtown stretch, told the
Redevelopment Commission Tuesday that use of town rights of way would
bring the 8-foot-wide concrete path to within feet of their homes. In
addition to loss of front yard area, residents worried about their
children's safety, property values and loss of driveway parking. They
also voiced concern they would end up as the de facto maintenance crew
for the stretch of trail in front of their homes.
Commission members said they are locked into the $1.9 million federal
grant that can be spent only on the trail.
"Scrap it," was the suggestion from resident Jerry Groff.
Not a wise idea, commission member Paul Childress replied. He cited
another community that had returned grant money and afterwards received
"not one more dime."
"I'm not against the bike trail," Groff said after the meeting, "but
there has to be a better solution."
"At this point we have no suitable alternatives" to Indiana Avenue,
commission President Bill Sexton said. He fielded questions from about
40 residents.
The grant as written and awarded requires the path to pass through the
town's downtown.
Bill Donley, a member of the Town Council which initiated the trail
plans, said it never intended to take the path through people's yards
downtown and remove old trees. If that was in the original plans,
Donley
said, "I made a mistake."
Howe Road resident Ken Field, who lives next to the proposed trail
bridge over U.S. 20, said he may not have bought his house if he'd
known
the trail and bridge ramps would be there.
Rory Robinson, a National Park Service ranger in the Midwest region's
rivers and trails program, told residents the path could be successful
with good design and proper operation. Those would include signs
warning
of residential areas, good maintenance, police patrolling and
enforcement. He tried to allay fears, saying, "The type of people who
drive (on bike paths) are not on Harleys. They ride Schwinns and Treks."
"The real benefactors are all of you," said Mitch Barloga of the
Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission. The trail primarily
would allow residents to get around and gain access to the lakeshore.
He
cited research showing half of the users could be walkers and would be
primarily local.
Hammond resident Bob Matter asked residents to look at the larger
picture. He said the trail would encourage car-free transportation, cut
down on pollution and be a means of getting from Illinois to Michigan
off road.
The trail would link the Prairie Duneland Trail and the Calumet Trail,
creating a continuous off-road biking and walking path across northern
Porter County.
Brian Williams can be reached at [email protected] or (219)
462-5151, ext. 348.