Proposed Lowell Trailway makes strides, $1.1 million raised for Phase 1 construction

Deborah Johnson Wood

A proposed network of walking and bike trails in Lowell called the Lowell Area Trailway got a jumpstart this week with the announcement that nearly $1.1 million has been raised through philanthropy and grants for construction of Phase 1, a 2.5-mile paved trail connecting area schools.

The Lowell Area Recreational Authority will oversee construction of the trail connecting Cherry Creek Elementary and the Lowell Middle School, both located in the city near the Foreman Road railroad tracks, with the Lowell Area High School and Wittenbach/Wege Agriscience Center on Vergennes Avenue.

"(The trail) provides a safe place to walk, ride bikes and roller blade," says Betsy Davidson. Davidson, Jodie Seese and Liz Baker co-chaired the capital campaign. "When you're driving around Cascade, Ada and Rockford, you see the community out walking their dogs and riding bikes with their families and I felt Lowell was missing out by not having that."

The trailway will use sidewalks in town as part of the trail from Foreman Road, west along Gee Street to Alden Nash, and then turns north where it will connect with the south end of the high school property, Davidson says. The trailway will intersect with other area trails, including a proposed rail trail on a stretch of abandoned rail tracks between Lowell and Greenville.

All of the trail will be handicap accessible. Two wildlife observation decks will overlook acres of farmland, wetlands and woodland just off Alden Nash.

"Our town is very rural in some areas and we keep that character," Davidson says. "We would like the school teams like the cross country team and others to have these trails available for training instead of training on the road."

Construction begins in spring 2011. The trailway is a joint effort between the city of Lowell, Lowell Charter Township and Vergennes Township.

Source: Betsy Davidson, Lowell Area Public Schools web site, Wittenbach/Wege web page, Lowell Area Trailway website

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected]. Development News tips can be sent to [email protected].