Vermilion County Conservation District executive director Jamie Pasquale says the Kickapoo Rail Trail being designated by the Illinois Department of Transportation as one of the year’s top four projects is a great sign of state support for this effort.
AUDIO: It’s great that IDOT has taken a huge interest in that project. They provided some engineering on it, and some design work, and ITIP funding for a lot of both Champaign and Vermilion County’s sections. This also means that getting it completed will help, since they do have a big interest in it, as well.
Last fall marked the dedication of the Kickapoo Rail Trail Bridge over the Middle Fork Vermilion River
And speaking of getting it completed; yes, it has been announced that a section in Champaign County in the Ogden area is next on the list.
AUDIO: The Champaign County Forest Preserve District; they are the owners and managers of the Kickapoo Rail Trail on the Champaign County side, applied for an ITIP grant. Usually that’s a grant that’s 20 percent that the agency comes up with, and then federal funding covers 80 percent. So they got a grant to do basically through the town of Ogden right to the Vermilion County Line.
And of course, with many warm weather months in front of us, we can look for a lot of it getting done in 2022.
