Half-mile segment of trail from Karst Farm Park to Ellettsville to get built
A stretch of the Karst Farm Greenway, from the Loesch Road Trailhead north to Woodyard Road, will get constructed by E & B paving company sometime in 2022. The work will probably be finished around August.
The non-motorized path will be 10 feet wide.
The contract with E & B paving company was approved by Monroe County’s three-member board of commissioners at its regular Wednesday meeting.
At their first meeting of the year, on Jan. 5, commissioners had awarded the construction bid to E & B paving. E & B’s bid came in at $957,600, which was lower than bids from Milestone Contractors, ($1,118,703) and Crider and Crider, Inc. ($1,412,893).
County attorney Margie Rice told commissioners on Wednesday that under the terms of the contract the county would give E & B a “notice to proceed” after which the work has to be completed within 120 days. The hope is to give the notice to proceed by April 1, which would mean the work would be done at the beginning of August.
Depending on how the weather looks in the spring, the notice to proceed might be given earlier, Rice said.
The segment to be paved by E & B this year is about 0.6 miles long. The project includes bridge rehab and new bridge construction.
The completed trail, which follows a former railroad corridor, leading from Karst Farm Park up to Ellettsville, will cover about 7 miles. Heading west out of Bloomington along 2nd Street, then along Airport Road, Karst Farm Park comes up on the right, just east of the Monroe County fairgrounds.
