Construction to Begin on Next Level Trails Project connecting Greenway to Downtown Share

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The City of Mar­i­on is start­ing con­struc­tion on a project to fos­ter more con­nec­tiv­i­ty and healthy activ­i­ty with­in the community. 

Mul­ti-fund­ed Next Lev­el Trails project, ​“City Con­nect,” con­sists of a new bike trail start­ing at 10^th Street at the Car­di­nal Green­way trail­head, mov­ing east­bound along 10^th Street to Boots Street, north­bound to 9^th Street, east­bound along 9^th Street to Wash­ing­ton Street, then north­bound along Wash­ing­ton Street to 7^th Street near the Mar­i­on Pub­lic Library. 

The total project cost is $1,828,659.00. The City received fund­ing from the Depart­ment of Nat­ur­al Resources in the amount of $640,684 (a 20% match). In col­lab­o­rat­ing with Indi­ana Wes­leyan Uni­ver­si­ty on a grant appli­ca­tion, the City also received fund­ing from the Lil­ly Endow­ment in the amount of $548,580.00. The remain­der will come from the Mar­i­on Rede­vel­op­ment Com­mis­sion and the City of Marion.

City Engi­neer­ing and Plan­ning Direc­tor Mike Graft said, ​“This is the first phase of a bike trail that we hope to con­tin­ue north­ward to even­tu­al­ly con­nect to the Mis­sissinewa Riverwalk.”

In excite­ment for the project, May­or Ronald Mor­rell, Jr. shared the larg­er pic­ture. ​“The mis­sion of City Con­nect is to enhance Mar­i­on’s walk­a­bil­i­ty, and thanks to our ded­i­cat­ed part­ners, we are mak­ing sig­nif­i­cant strides toward our goal. Our invest­ment in the River­walk trail over 30 years ago laid the foun­da­tion, and this ini­tia­tive rep­re­sents a con­tin­ued expan­sion of that vision.”

The project is planned to be com­plet­ed by fall of 2025.

The City of Mar­i­on will hold an offi­cial ground­break­ing on Thurs­day, March 13^th, 2025 at 2pm at the Car­di­nal Green­way trail­head near 10^th and Nebras­ka Street. All are invit­ed to come and celebrate.

Media Con­tacts:
Mike Graft: mgraft@​cityofmarion.​in.​gov (City of Marion)
Keenan Davis: keenan.​davis@​indwes.​edu (Lil­ly Endow­ment grant col­lab­o­ra­tion)
Dar­ren Reese: darren.​reese@​gmail.​com (Mar­i­on Rede­vel­op­ment Commission)