Published: November 21, 2009 05:18 pm      

Greenway levy-top trail nearly done

Paving expected this year

A more than 2-mile trail atop Clarksville’s floodwall is nearly complete.

According to Brad Kaluzny, superintendent of the Clarksville Parks and Recreation Department, gravel has been laid and the trail should be paved by the end of the year. It runs from Falls of The Ohio State Park’s Interpretative Center to George Rogers Clark Park and into Midway Park, all overlooking the Ohio River along the floodwall.

A few ramps leading up to the trail are yet to be completed. Once those are finished, the trail will connect to Montgomery Avenue, Arlington Avenue, Norwood Avenue and Stansifer Avenue.

The town also is planning to connect the trail to an abandoned CSX rail line that officials are trying to acquire.

Clarksville is paying for the project with a $900,000 grant from Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels’ office, Kaluzny said. It will be available for use by bikes and pedestrians and will be fully handicapped-accessible, he said.

The project ties in with the Ohio River Greenway, a federally funded effort to connect riverfronts in Jeffersonville, Clarksville and New Albany with the path.

Although the trail extends beyond the greenway — into Midway Park — it does connect several points in the project, including the interpretative center and George Rogers Clark Park, said Shaunna Graf, project coordinator.

“It’s a huge part of the greenway itself,” she said.



Other greenway news

• In Jeffersonville, construction on two new ramps between the lower greenway trail and the sidewalk along Riverside Drive will start in January. There are two such ramps already. The new ones will be near the Big Four Bridge and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge.

• In New Albany, a segment of the greenway between Scribner Place and the western bank of Silver Creek is being designed.