ABOVE: Danville’s Mayor Rickey Williams, Jr is hoping that an eastern extension of the Kickapoo Rail Trail beyond the Vermilion County Fairgrounds into Danville will end up at Ellsworth Park.
The Danville City Council recently approved a $110,579 surveying contract to help figure out how to extend the Kickapoo Rail Trail further East. It’s being paid for by federal money out of the Danville Area Transportation Study. Mayor Rickey Williams, Jr explained the plans during a recent 1490 WDAN Community Connection appearance with Laura Williams.
Audio PlayerAUDIO: It ends right now at our Vermilion County Fairgrounds, which is about four-and-a-half miles outside of town. And we need to figure out a way to get it into town; and we hope to have that come into Ellsworth Park.
Danville Area Convention and Visitors Bureau executive director Jeanie Cooke says there is solid support to add this attraction to Danville.
Audio PlayerAUDIO: The rail trail coming into Danville opens a lot of opportunities for not only residents but for tourism as well. Already we have seen a lot of activity on that rail trail for people that don’t live here in this area. It’s a jewel, and we need to do everything we can to finish off that project. I know it has a lot of support.
Mayor Williams is hoping for the $1 million USDA Forestry Services Grant to help Danville recover from tree damage suffered during last summer’s storm.
Continuing with the nature theme, Danville recently received a one million dollar Forestry Services Grant from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). And as Mayor Williams mentioned on Community Connection; this is just in the nick of time, considering the trees damaged during last summer’s storm.
Audio PlayerAUDIO: Dr. Halloran, Patrick Halloran, and the support of Trees for Danville really made that happen. It’s going to let us get rid of some bad trees that we have in parks and public right of ways, and also plant a whole bunch more trees. Because we know we already had a shortage of trees before the storm, and the storm only exacerbated that. So again, a shout out to my team, and Dr. Tom Halloran and Patrick Halloran for making that happen.
To listen to Mayor Williams’ recent appearance on 1490 WDAN’s Community Connection, please go to https://vermilioncountyfirst.com/the-community-connection/