Acknowledgments PRODUCED IN COOPERATION WITH THE INDIANA OFFICE OF TOURISM DEVELOPMENT THROUGH THE LT. GOVERNOR’S QUALITY OF PLACE INITIATIVE SPECIAL THANKS ALSO TO Efroymson Fund – A Central Indiana Community Foundation Fund Greenways Foundation Wabash Valley Community Foundation – Vigo County Central Indiana Bicycling Association Foundation Indiana Trails Fund, Inc. Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Tom McCain (Cross-state NRHT logo) NATIONAL ROAD HERITAGE TRAIL, INC. BOARD OF DIRECTORS Greg Midgley, President / Indiana Trails Fund Jeff Ray, Vice President / Healthy Communities of Henry County Stacy Riggs, Director/ Indiana Trail Riders Association (equestrian) Joe Jarzen, Director / Indiana National Road Association, Executive Director Joy Marley, Director / People Pathways, President (Greencastle) *Jan Davis, Director / Hendricks County Heritage Alliance *Stan Lambert Director / Richmond Parks and Recreation, Superintendent NRHT DEVELOPMENT GUIDE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBERS Greg Midgley, NRHT President Jeff Ray, NRHT Vice President Stacy Riggs, Director / Equestrian Liaison Joe Jarzen, Director / Indiana National Road Association Amy Inman, Senior Planner Indianapolis MPO *Stan Lambert, Richmond Parks and Recreation, Superintendent NRHT DEVELOPMENT GUIDE STEERING GROUP Dan Watson, National Road Bicycle Club (Terre Haute), President Joy Marley, People Pathways, President Gerald Pagac, Hendricks County Park Board Rich Carlucci, Plainfield Town Manager Ray Irvin, Indy Greenways, Director Mark Reynold, Cumberland Town Council / Indiana National Road Association Richard Vonnegut, Indiana Trails Fund, President / Hoosier Rails–to-Trails Council Kevin Heber, Indiana Trails Fund / Hoosier Rails-to-Trails Council Steve Morris, Indiana DNR, Division of Outdoor Recreation, Streams and Trails Coordinator Gerald Nieman, INDOT, Transportation Enhancement Program Manager Michael O’Loughlin, INDOT, Bicycle, Pedestrian and Scenic Byway Program Manager * Until late 2005 Acknowledgements PRIMARY COUNTY CONTACTS Vigo County ..................................... Jackie Mitchell, West Central Indiana Economic Development District Vigo County ...............................................*Pat Martin, West Central Indiana Economic Development District Vigo County ...............................................James McKinney, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Clay County ..................................... Shaaron Revalee, Indiana Trail Riders Association Clay County ...............................................Brad Deal, Brazil Parks Board Putnam County ..........................................Joy Marley, People Pathways, President Hendricks County ............................. Greg Midgley, NRHT, Inc Marion County ...........................................Greg Midgley, NRHT, Inc Hancock County ............................... Tracy Doyle, Greenfield Parks, Superintendent Henry County ................................... Jeff Ray, Healthy Communities of Henry County, Inc. Wayne County ................................. *Stan Lambert, Richmond Parks and Recreation, Superintendent NRHT DEVELOPMENT GUIDE CONSULTANT TEAM Storrow Kinsella Associates Inc Planning, Urban Design, and Landscape Architecture Consultant Meg Storrow, John Kinsella. Mark Sexton, Rachel Uthe, Joel Stevens, Charlie Bridenthal and Rose Kurtz CONTACT INFORMATION NRHT, Inc Website Address .......................................www.nrht.org Mailing Address .........................................P.O. Box 402, Indianapolis, IN 46206-0402 * Until late 2005 National Road Heritage Trail Development Guide Indiana Office of Tourism Development Acknowledgments Foreword Table of Contents BINDER 1: STATEWIDE GUIDE INTRODUCTION Project Overview A Overall Route Project Background TRAIL PLANNING Goals and Benefits of Trails B Funding PLANNING TOOLS Vision and Goals of NRHT C Logo& Identity Design Guidelines Trail Ownership and Maintenance EXECUTIVE SUMMARIES D RECOMMENDATIONS & CONCLUSIONS E National Road Heritage Trail Development Guide contents Indiana Office of Tourism Development page ii Foreword Table of Contents This page intentionally blank. contents ii page Introduction PROJECT OVERVIEW Focus of the Study This Development Guide presents a macro scale look at issues associated with the proposed National Road Heritage Trail (NRHT) from west to east across Indiana. It assembles and organizes thoughts and visions about a cross-state trail into tangible results and manageable tasks. The Development Guide is an important first step in the long process of developing a cross-state multi-use trail— that roughly follows the Historic National Road. In short, this Development Guide has been constructed as a ‘user-friendly’ handbook to: Present a vision for a 150-mile long trail Describe physical characteristics along the proposed trail corridor Define challenges and opportunities for developing the trail corridor Present conceptual ideas for addressing physical challenges, and Provide communities along the NRHT corridor with strategies for developing trail segments. This document is not intended to present a final trail design. Rather, information contained in this document is intended to guide various communities located along the proposed trail route in efforts to determine how they may best conduct their own final trail design and implementation. The idea of creating a multi-use pedestrian/bicycle/horseback- riding trail that would cross Indiana has been a topic of The proposed route of the NRHT is envisioned to cross eight Indiana counties. discussion for a number of years. Recently, interest in such a Source: Storrow Kinsella Associates Inc trail project has been gaining momentum. Elected officials and policy makers have been taking notice of the public support trails are generating and have begun to contemplate the benefits of such a cross-state trail. While planning for the cross-state NRHT is currently in the early stages, some Indiana communities have already taken bold steps to develop their own local trail projects – including constructing trails that could be used as segments of the larger NRHT proposed cross-state corridor. As interest in a cross- state trail grows, many believe the time is appropriate for moving forward to evaluate the benefits and feasibility of a coordinated project. Preliminary discussions for a cross-state trail have led knowledgeable trail users and bicycle enthusiasts to believe a viable west to east trail across Indiana can be developed primarily by utilizing the alignment of several former railroad corridors. The consensus among those who have invested time to conduct preliminary research and observation of the envisioned corridor, is the width of former railroad corridors and the proposed trail’s efficient west to east alignment make it National Road Heritage Trail Development Guide section A Indiana Office of Tourism Development page 1 Introduction suitable for development as a future multi-use trail. There is Project Approach concern however, that if action is not taken soon to protect the The following is a brief overview of the approach used to assets and character of the proposed route, then key sections prepare the NRHT Development Guide. may be converted locally in a manner detrimental to trail development. This could have a negative impact on the quality Meetings and likelihood of a fully developed NRHT. An important component used in the process to prepare the Development Guide was the dialogue that took place between Components of the Development Guide the consulting team and the NRHT, Inc. Steering Committee. The NRHT Development Guide contains information about the Members of the committee participated by discussing potential trail alignment, routing alternatives, the location of trail information collected for the trail, reviewing maps that had been access points, constraints and opportunities impacting trail prepared and providing guidance on the document development and the establishment of a NRHT signage and development. The committee’s input was essential for shaping identity system. not only the document, but the trail vision. Information has also been assembled on trail design guidelines Field Observations and steps needed to make a multi-use, cross-state trail safe The consulting team conducted field observations in each of and available to the public. the eight NRHT counties during the spring of 2005 to better understand the physical conditions along the proposed NRHT The Development Guide has been organized into nine binders, corridor. The observations were conducted to visually assess each containing a separate section of the overall document. existing conditions, identify potential opportunities and With this approach , the document begins by focusing attention constraints and evaluate issues that may impact the on the overall trail vision, project goals and state-wide trail development of the trail. issues. A separate binder has been prepared for each of the eight Indiana NRHT counties. The county binders are intended Data Collection/Map Preparation to provide local communities with information they can use to The consulting team prepared maps showing the trail alignment implement the trail in their area. by formatting USGS maps at scale of 1” = 1000’ for the entire proposed NRHT corridor. Maps for each of the eight counties Binder 1 (Statewide) were prepared on 11” x 17” sheets and arranged by county Introduction from west to east. Trail Planning Planning Tools A windshield survey was conducted for each county