Nov '19 4 Next Level Trails Applications Submitted on NRHT Corridor
Jly '19 IndyGo Blue Line & NRHT Synergy across Indianapolis
Apr '19 Preview of USBR50-Alternate along NRHT
Feb '19 Several Bike Trail Presentations Highlight Progress & Objectives
Jan '19 Local Support Growing for Vandalia Trail in Indy
Aug '18 Cross-State NRHT August 2018 Update
Aug '18 People Pathways Opens Putnam Nature Trail Phase 2
Feb '18 Progress Across the State
Mar '18 Monthly NRHT, Inc. Bike Rides Planned

2024
2022-2023
2020-2021
2016-2017
2015 & before

November 2019
4 Next Level Trails Applications Submitted on NRHT Corridor: 

City of Greencastle           2.5 miles
Hendricks County Parks    3.4 miles
Town of Plainfield             2.3 miles
Hancock County               2.7 miles

Their locations and how they would connect or extend existing trails are shown on the map below (click on map for larger version).  The State expects to complete grant awards selections by early 2020.

July 2019
IndyGo Blue Line & NRHT Synergy across Indianapolis: 

With the NRHT bike/ped route well-established on the east side with the Pennsy Trail and connectors and the recent momentum to create the Vandalia Trail for the route on the west side, a compelling synergy with the new Blue Line Transit system is becoming very apparent.  These two different modes will feed each other, providing more transportation flexibility than either would on its own.  For example, for someone considering biking or walking east-west across much of the city (to work, touring, etc), knowing that there's a dependable and frequent bicycle-friendly rapid bus service easily accessible from the entire route would give that much more confidence to launch into the journey, since they would not have to worry about the potential to be stranded due to fatigue, malfunction, weather, or other unforeseen event.  This group of people may not typically consider using transit, but becoming familiar with it because of their non-motorized transportation interest would increase the chances that they'd then choose to use the transit in other situations, too.

April 2019
Preview of USBR50-Alternate along NRHT: 

February/March 2019
Several Bike Trail Presentations Highlight Progress & Objectives: 

January 2019
Local Support Growing for Vandalia Trail in Indy: 

A coalition of local residents, business owners, Indianapolis City Council representatives, and trail supporters is joining together to support the development of a new segment of Vandalia Trail on the far west side of Indianapolis, to connect near the airport to Plainfield’s growing Vandalia Trail. Part of the 2014 Indy Greenways Master Plan, this trail segment would stretch 3.4 miles from the Hendricks County line to High School Road, giving pedestrians and bicyclists a safer alternative to congested U.S. 40, and laying the groundwork for the entire Indy Vandalia Trail (map below) to the Eagle Creek Trail and connection near the Hendricks County line with the future East White Lick Creek Trail.

If you’d like to see this important quality of life project become a reality, visit the Friends of the Vandalia Trail Facebook page for updates and contact the Friends of the Vandalia Trail to see how you can help.

August 2018
Cross-State NRHT August 2018 Update: 

Vigo (9.9 miles) – The City of Terre Haute extended the paved sidepath along 1st Street south 2 blocks to the Historic National Road connecting with protected sidepaths already on the bridges across the Wabash River. This extends Terre Haute’s NRHT and connecting paths to 7.9 miles. In addition, the NRHT, Inc. board designated the 2-mile crushed stone Wabashiki Trail across West Terre Haute as part of the cross-state NRHT. Vigo County Parks & Recreation Department built this trail in 2012 on levees next to the DNR Wabashiki Fish & Wildlife Area. Plans for a future trail connection between these Terre Haute and West Terre Haute trails was announced this year with a mile long boardwalk along the causeway between them.

Terre Haute NRHT sidepath extension - 0.5 miles

Putnam (11.8 miles) – On August 14, the not-for-profit People Pathways organization officially opened the 2.6-mile smooth packed stone Phase 2 of its Putnam Nature Trail extending southwest from Limedale, very close to its existing 0.8-mile Phase 1 extending southwest from Greencastle. Phase 2 includes a well-developed trailhead at CR 150 W at the south edge of Limedale and a nice gravel parking lot at CR 300 W generously shared by DNR’s Deer Creek Fish & Wildlife Area next to which the trail runs for much of its route. In addition, the City of Greencastle began construction of its 1-mile Phase 1 of the paved Campus Link Trail that will eventually cross the city, connecting the Vandalia Trail with the Putnam Nature Trail. People Pathways continues to manage the well-established Vandalia Trail across the eastern half of the county from Greencastle to the Hendricks County line, connecting to Hendricks County Parks & Recreation’s 4-mile Vandalia Trail for a total length of 12 miles.

Hendricks (11.1 miles) – In the past year, Hendricks County Parks and Recreation paved the 4 miles of Vandalia Trail that has been used as a rustic trail in the Amo-Coatesville area since 2005. Along with major upgrades of trailheads in both towns, this has significantly increased the trail’s popularity with bicyclists and pedestrians. This is part of the 12-mile Vandalia Trail open from Amo to Greencastle. Plainfield Parks & Recreation’s 7.2 miles of paved Vandalia Trail and local connector trails continue to serve as the NRHT’s cross-town route. In addition, the Town of Plainfield Indiana has begun construction work on its new gateway area on the north side of the Historic National Road at the Marion County line which we understand will include accommodation for the Vandalia Trail along the north side of the Historic National Road.

Hendricks County Parks Vandalia Trail paved - 4.0 miles

Hancock (8.5 miles) – Working to connect the well-established Pennsy Trails by the Town of Cumberland and Greenfield Parks, the local volunteer group Pennsy Trails of Hancock County acquired 1-mile of former Pennsylvania Railroad corridor between CR 400 W and CR 500 W, coordinated with Hancock County to build a large gravel parking lot at CR 400 W and opened an initial 1-mile rustic Pennsy Trail hiking trail. The group also helped coordinate award of a federal TAP grant to Hancock County to pave this section of Pennsy Trail in 2020 and is currently hard at work raising funds for the 20% local match required for that grant. At the same time, a coalition of the towns throughout the county, plus the Hancock County Community Foundation, Hancock Regional Hospital, and Pennsy Trails of Hancock County is working with a consulting firm to create a countywide trails plan with the Pennsy Trail as the key backbone for the system.

Rustic Pennsy Trail (CR 400 W - CR 500 W) - 1.0 miles

Henry (7.0 miles) – The not-for-profit Healthy Communities of Henry County has been working on acquiring several parcels in the Dunreith area & plans to soon begin more trail clearing in that area in order to connect the existing 4-mile Raysville-Dunreith section and 3-mile Lewisville section of packed stone & natural surface NRHT across south-central Henry County.

Wayne (0.8 miles) – The City of Richmond, Indiana continues to work with an RTP grant to pave 1 mile of Riverside Trail which was originally launched by the Society for the Preservation and Use of Resources (SPUR).

August 2018
People Pathways Opens Putnam Nature Trail Phase 2: 

Tuesday afternoon, August 14, People Pathways formally introduced to the community and thanked the many partners who helped create the 2.6-mile smooth packed stone Phase 2 of the Putnam Nature Trail extending southwest from Limedale along the former Pennsylvania Railroad. The event at the CR 150 W trailhead drew a large crowd and included homemade hobo stew cooked on-site all day, the boys and girls track teams from South Putnam High School inaugurating the trail with a run from the southwest end of the trail, much happy networking by trail builders, trail users, local officials and trail supporters in general, and a fun speech by People Pathways Chairwomen Joy Marley on the history of how this wonderful new community amenity came to fruition and the people and groups who were instrumental in it. This is a great addition to the cross-state NRHT, being one of the most scenic segments of the overall initiative, plus provides cyclists a direct route to bypass 3.4 miles of precarious Manhattan Road between Greencastle and US 40.

More background on the event and trail was described in a Greencastle Banner-Graphic article.

Phase 2 is not yet connected to the 0.8-mile Phase 1 to the north that People Pathways opened 2 years ago, since these segments are currently separated by a low-traffic active railroad line in Limedale. Work is on-going to negotiate a future crossing.

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