Parks chief peddles bike path idea

This story ran on nwitimes.com on Monday, September 20, 2004 12:07 AM CDT

DYER -- Bike paths for Dyer may be years away, but the town has the chance to take a first step by linking with the planned Pennsy Greenway, Park Superintendent Mark Heintz said.

The future bike path would link Lansing, which plans to break ground for its leg of the Greenway next spring, with the Erie-Lackawanna trail at Beaver Dam ditch near White Hawk Country Club, as well as Schererville, Munster and Crown Point.

The plan, which has $840,000 in federal transportation funding, could include a link for Dyer off Indianapolis Boulevard in Schererville. Heintz envisions a short offshoot from that portion of the trail, which would run along the railroad tracks paralleling the Home Depot store off Indianapolis, at the old steel bridge.

 If such a spur is built, it would likely be no more than a mile long and run near a number of Dyer and Schererville residential neighborhoods, including Briar Crossing and Briar Cove. Having a link already in place could spur development of other bike paths in town, since federal dollars are usually available only if a proposed path fills a transportation need in the community.

Linking up to the Pennsy Greenway, which provides access to at least four other communities, would allow Dyer to fill that need.

 Bike paths were highlighted as a potential amenity in a recent economic development and image enhancement report released by Ball State University. Since a creekwalk along Hart Ditch has been highlighted as a want and need in Dyer, Heintz suggested some kind of bikeway paralleling it be considered.

A meeting with the Greenway's planners will be necessary, said Chuck Gardiner, director of Parks and Recreation in Munster and a proponent of the bike trail.

 "There are a couple spots (in Dyer) for potential spurs," Gardiner said. "There's also potential spots to hook into the Munster (portion of the trail)."

All in all, the Greenway will include three miles in Munster, nine to 10 miles in Schererville and one to two miles in Crown Point. The Lansing portion begins near the Lansing Country Club, then crosses the state line to Calumet Avenue. The trail will then run past the Munster landfill, then southwest to the access point beneath Indianapolis.

 After passing Schererville Town Hall, the greenway eventually connects with Erie Lackawanna near the Country Club. Since Erie Lackawanna begins in Griffith and connects with the Crosstown trail in Highland, riders would have access to at least six Lake County and Illinois communities, seven if Dyer is able to get its plans for a bike network off the ground.

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