The Village of Galena has been working several years to improve the Galena Brick Trail from Dustin Rd. to Holmes St. Our parks and trails map is attached. We received a Clean Ohio trail grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources that will convert the old railroad bed to a 10’wide paved multi-purpose trail that is part of the Ohio to Erie Trail. The project would also replace the bridge deck over Little Walnut Creek. This trail eventually will connect to the Hoover Scenic Trail and Genoa Trail south of us and the Big Walnut Community Trail to the north in Sunbury that connects to Big Walnut Elementary. The trails will also link Galena’s neighborhoods with our parks and downtown commercial area.
We have partnered with Delaware County, Preservation Parks of Delaware County, and Delaware County Friends of the Trail (DCFT) on this project and they have contributed matching funds and in-kind services. We bid the project out last summer and the bids came in substantially higher than the funds available. We made some revisions to the project and bid it out again at the end of 2015. The bids came in lower than before but still in excess of our funding. So, DCFT has been working hard on raising the funds needed to move forward with this project. The Village, Ohio to Erie Trail fund, DCFT, Preservation Parks, and the Delaware County Foundation have donated additional funds and in-kind services.
DCFT has launched a Go Fund Me campaign to raise the remaining money needed to start construction on the trail project. Please visit their site at gofundme.com/htn89dkc and donate if you can. Forward this to anyone you think might be passionate about improving our trails for health, safety, and to enjoy our abundant natural resources.
