http://www.thetimesonline.com/articles/2005/07/26/news/lake_county/5dc9a0cb51f63cf38625704a0009403b.txt

Pine Island gets access to Erie Lackawanna trail

SCHERERVILLE: Town completes linking section of bike trail

BY CARMEN McCOLLUM
[email protected]
219.933.3318

SCHERERVILLE | Nearly four years in the making, the town of Schererville has
completed a section of bike trail that connects the Pine Island subdivision
to the Erie Lackawanna trail.

The trail is open to the public.

The Erie Lackawanna Trail runs from Crown Point to Hammond along a rail line
abandoned in the mid-1980s by the Erie Lackawanna Railroad.

Though the trail extends through Schererville, residents in the Pine Island
subdivision had no access to it.

However, once the town got a donation of nearly 8.9 acres from the
Chicago-based Fogelson Companies and 0.75 acres from the Pine Island
Apartments Limited Liability Corp., Chicago, it made construction of the
trail a lot easier.

Schererville Town Council President Mike Troxell, who represents the 5th
Ward where the Pine Island subdivision is located, has been working for
several years to provide an access for those residents.

Schererville Town Manager Bob Volkmann said once work began on the trail,
workers found they had to move the trail north of the original location.

"The first proposal was to use a NIPSCO easement, but it was wet down there
and when we did soil tests, we found that the soil was unsuitable," Volkmann
said. "We abandoned that whole site and went further north."

Over the winter months, town workers cleared trees and during spring,
workers cut the path, graded the land, put in culverts and stone base,
officials said.

Jeff Huet, the town's public works director, said much of the work was
completed by public works employees.

Contractors installed the pavement, centerlines and stripes.

Huet said there are a few minor things left to complete on the trail,
including adding flashing lights on Pine Island and a sign to alert
motorists the trail is there.