Chesterton Tribune

County looking to end Calumet Trail flooding

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By DOUG ELISH

The Porter County Commissioners sent a request to the County Council for the appropriation of funds for an engineering study on the Calumet Trail at their meeting Tuesday.

Council approval is necessary to get the funds out of the federal and state reimbursement money for the trail only because the $195,000 in the bank has been dormant so long. The council is expected to approve the release of the money and may even be required to do so.

The money will then be used to get an engineering design to correct the flooding problem that can make the trail unusable after heavy rainfall.

Initially the trail was engineered to allow water to run north, toward the lake, but the methods and materials that were used were not appropriate and the design has failed, Porter County Park Superintendent Walter Lenckos said.

The goal is to raise and pave between two to four miles of the trail so the water drains into the wetlands and allows the trail to be used year-round. Resurfacing the trail, which is now hard-packed dirt and gravel, would also make it more conducive to running, hiking, biking and cross country skiing, Lenckos said.

“We want to find out exactly what the improvements are going to be and how much they are going to cost, he said. “The last study was done a number of years ago, we need more details.”

 

 

Posted 6/8/2011

 

 

 

 

 

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