The Niles Times
Bidding for construction on the Niles bike trail will be held next month according to city grants coordinator, Mark Hess.
Bids are expected to be open on Aug. 25 with construction on the project to begin sometime in September or early October, Hess said.
The project has been more than seven years in the making with the most recent delays due to negotiations with the city and Norfolk Southern and Ohio Central Rail System railroads. The negotiations dealt with crossings over active railroad tracks. Agreements with the railroads were reached last year.
The 4 1/2 mile long project will extend along an abandoned railroad bed from the Niles trailhead to be built at Robbins Avenue and State Street. It will hook up with the Millcreek Metroparks trail at the Mahoning County line in Austintown.
Eventually the Niles trail will be connected to the Lake to River Greenway, a project expecting to span four counties to connect Lake Erie to the Ohio River at East Liverpool.
Originally estimated at $2.5 million in 2002, the project is now expected to cost in the neighborhood of $3.4 million.
Once opened, the winning bid will go to the Eastgate Regional Council of Governments for approval, Hess said.
Construction of the trail is expected to be completed sometime next summer.