Carol Johnson, Southern Indiana Business Report
SALEM – A steady rain fell during the fifth ribbon cutting in six months for the Monon South Trail, but the weather didn’t dampen the mood of the 75 gathered at the trailhead on Main Street in Salem Friday.
The Monon South Trail project team was joined by Salem Mayor Justin Green and US Rep. Erin Houchin, R-Indiana, to celebrate the completion of 2.7 miles of trail in Salem.
Salem is the fourth community to celebrate the completion of its section of the trail. Previous ribbon-cuttings were in Orleans, Mitchell and Borden. Two more sections of trail – New Pekin and Campbellsburg – will open by the end of June, which will bring an end to Phase 1 construction.
When Phase 1 is completed, there will be 20 miles of trail. The entirety of the Monon South Trail will stretch 62 miles from Mitchell on the north end down to New Albany.
Dale Brier, deputy director for community grants and trails for Indiana Department of Natural Resources, said the pace of completion has been remarkable.
“It was just 2023 when this started to come together to build 62.3 miles of trail. I remember Jeff (Quyle, Radius Indiana CEO) mentioning Radius and he had an aggressive plan to do this trail really fast,” Brier said. “The trail is on the ground. It doesn’t get much faster than this. In the trails world, doing something this fast is almost unheard of.”
With the completion of sections in Mitchell, Orleans, Borden and Salem, the Monon South Trail now has more than 12 miles of paved and gravel open trails.
The DNR’s trail program has invested $180 million in building trails like the Monon South.
“With today’s opening, we now have 125 miles of new trails down,” Brier said.
Houchin praised the Monon South Trail for bringing a new source of recreation to residents and connecting the communities on the trail.
“Whether you’re a cyclist, runner, a walker or a dog walker, the Monon South Trail offers a safe and beautiful space for everyone,” she said. “We know how important infrastructure is, not just for roads and bridges, but for parks, trails and recreation spaces that enrich our communities and promote healthy living. Projects like this will spur economic development and tourism growth.”
Earlier in the week, Houchin spent time with the trail project team looking at the trail from Pekin to Salem.
“It gave me the opportunity to see not just what it became but what it came from and to highlight the required investment that will be necessary to complete this trail,” she said.
Houchin announced she’s submitted a $5 million request for community project funding on behalf of the City of Mitchell, to support the completion of more miles of the trail.
“This is more than a ribbon cutting, it’s a beginning of new memories and momentum for our communities,” she said.
Mayor Green said the trail is the type of quality of place amenity that will benefit the community for years to come.
“We want this, we want it in our city, we want it for our residents. This trail isn’t just for us today, it’s a generational use trail. We’re going to see a lot of people on this for a lot of years to come,” Green said. “And it’s ours, it’s yours and all the communities up and down the trail.”
The trail groundbreaking was last July and the timeline called for building 20 miles in 11 months.
MAC Construction was awarded the bid to construct the trail. MAC project manager Sam Kaluzny said the team knew the timeline would be a challenge, but was fortunate to have favorable weather that allowed crews to pave through early December.
“It wasn’t just the MAC team that made this happen, it was the entire project team that consisted of Radius Indiana, Clark Dietz and Taylor Siefker Williams,” he said.
