Holmes ready to expand trail [The Daily Record]

MILLERSBURG -- Projects are in the works that will extend the Holmes County Trail from Fredericksburg to Brinkhaven, a countywide span that will stretch 29 miles when complete. The trail currently encompasses 15 miles from Fredericksburg to Killbuck. In steps being taken to realize a Rails-to-Trails goal of creating a trail system that connects Lake Erie with the Ohio River, construction is scheduled to begin on the Phase 5 project to link Brinkhaven to Killbuck. "Phase 5 is basically everything that is left," said Holmes County Park District Director Jen Halverson. "Phase A is the tunnel under (U.S. Route) 62, down by the Knox County line, that will be our next construction project. All going well, we hope to do that this construction season." The project will connect the trail to the Mohican Valley Trail, well known for its Bridge of Dreams. After final design and engineering plans are approved by the Ohio Department of Transportation, construction to dig a 260-foot lighted tunnel under U.S. Route 62 will begin. The Phase 5 project completes a campaign that began in 1996 when Dr. Robert A. Hart of Millersburg formed the Holmes County Rails-to-Trails Coalition, a nonprofit organization to begin the acquisition and development of the former railroad into a trail to accommodate horse-drawn buggies and other forms of non-motorized recreation and travel. After completion of Phase 5A, work on Phase 5B, whose design and engineering work is being handled by Zanesville consultant Linn Engineering, will begin. This will involve surfacing the trail and adding a box culvert under County Road 75. [Keep reading at The Daily Record]