The Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the B&O Trail Association (BOTA) Friday opened the recently completed B&O Trail extension in Hendricks County.
The first of two phases for BOTA’s project, the new 2.1-mile asphalt multi-use rail trail was constructed with help from a $4.58 million Next Level Trails (NLT) grant. The award was announced by Gov. Eric J. Holcomb in March 2021 as part of the second grant round of NLT. Key local partners include the Central Indiana Community Foundation, IU West Hospital, Hendricks Regional Health, Indy Gateway, Hendricks County Community Foundation, Hendricks Power Cooperative, and numerous individual contributors.
The project extends the existing B&O Trail in Hendricks County 2.1 miles west from the Tilden Trailhead at County Road 500 East to County Road 250 East. Combined with the existing B&O Trail in Brownsburg and Hendricks County, the extension creates a contiguous trail of more than 8.3 miles.
“Thanks to Governor Holcomb’s Next Level Trails program, Indiana is leading the way in supporting communities as they create trail networks,” said Chris Smith, DNR deputy director. “Trails bring people together all across the state, and the new B&O Trail extension here in Hendricks County keeps that important connection going strong.”
The next phase of the BOTA project will extend the trail 2.5 miles east from Raceway Road into Marion County, ultimately connecting to the Speedway Trails Association’s Round 1 NLT project. When all phases are complete, the B&O Trail will run nearly 16 contiguous miles from downtown Indianapolis at the White River to rural Hendricks County. “This is an exciting milestone for the B&O Trail Association in Hendricks County, and this is just the first of three long-awaited expansions both in Hendricks County and Marion County,” said Jeff Smallwood, BOTA president. “We thank the Indiana Department of Natural Resources for making this possible by awarding us a $4.58 million Next Level Trails grant in 2021 for two phases of this project. We are now one step closer to our long-term vision of a trail stretching from downtown Indianapolis to Montezuma, Indiana.”
As part of Gov. Holcomb’s Next Level Connections initiative, NLT is the largest infusion of trails funding in state history. The now $180 million program is administered by the DNR and facilitates critical trail connections within and between Hoosier communities.
Including the B&O Trail, 19 NLT projects are complete, totaling 61.51 miles of new trail open to the public. An additional 45.18 miles is under construction, and 136 more miles are in the pre-construction phase of development under the grant program. In May, Gov. Holcomb announced details for the fourth round of NLT, which will dedicate an additional $30 million to connect communities through more hiking, biking, and riding trails across the state.
The fourth round will award up to $22.5 million to regional projects and as much as $7.5 million to local projects. The application period begins July 1 and ends Aug. 1 at 5 p.m. ET (4 p.m. CT). Eligible applicants include units of government or 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations. Applicants are limited to one application per round.