On the heels of receiving the Bicycle Friendly Community designation, Warsaw’s longest continuous bicycle and pedestrian route will soon become a reality.

The Warsaw Board of Public Works and Safety accepted a grant from the K21 Health Foundation today for $46,000 to incorporate a bicycle and pedestrian route into the West Center Street resurfacing project that has been taking place over the course of the summer. The new route will include 1.1 miles of new sidewalks and bike lanes.

The route will stretch from West Center Street, along Hepler Drive and Zimmer Lane, to the east end of the Chinworth Trail greenway. Once completed, there will be bike lanes on both sides of the road along the entire stretch. New sidewalks will be installed on the north side of West Center Street, east side of Hepler Drive and south side of Zimmer Lane.

Trail signs and crosswalks will also be added. This will create the longest continuous bicycle and pedestrian route in the city at a total of 3.4 miles. It will connect rural and urban amenities, including the Chinworth Bridge Trailhead, City-County Athletic Complex, Mantis Skate Park, Baker Youth club and Warsaw’s downtown district.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to get the Chinworth Greenway Trail connected to our downtown. K21 is very excited to help advance our pedestrian and bicycle development in this community, and applaud the city of Warsaw and many citizens for their commitment to provide and promote these opportunities,” said Rich Hadded, president and CEO of the K21 Health Foundation.

The project is part of the Ride+Walk Warsaw+Winona Lake initiatives to make Warsaw and Winona Lake more bicycle and pedestrian friendly. In a 2012 Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan, the route along West Center Street was identified as a key part of a “backbone” across the city that will eventually allow for connection to the new Krebs Trailhead Park and Winona Lake’s Heritage Trail greenway.

For more information on the new bicycle and pedestrian route or the Ride+Walk Warsaw+Winona Lake efforts, call Staci Young at 574-372-9554 Ext. 224 or email [email protected].