PORTAGE | Construction should begin later this summer or early fall on an approximately mile long trail within the city's Northside Business Park.
The Portage Board of Works approved a construction contract Monday with the Indiana Department of Transportation for the project.
Director of Public Works A.J. Monroe said the project will be bid by INDOT. The cost is about $1.2 million -- with about $970,000 coming from a federal grant. The local match is being paid by the Redevelopment Commission.
Monroe said the 10-foot-wide trail will begin on the east side of Ind. 249 at AmeriPlex Drive and include a pedestrian crossing on the state highway. It will continue westward to Willowcreek Road with a north leg veering to the city's Yacht Club and a southern leg heading toward the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission/Northwest Indiana Forum building.
The trail will be constructed primarily of asphalt, but will also have segments constructed of concrete boardwalk and a soft trail mix.
Substantial completion of the project is expected at the end of the year with landscaping completed next year.
In other business, the board approved locating underground fuel storage tanks for the new Meijer gas station on U.S. 6. The retailer purchased the former Super Kmart building and is converting it. Construction on the gas station is expected to begin in late August. The new Meijer is expected to reopen in the spring of 2013.
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