UPDATE! – May 2021 B&O Trail Assoication, with significant financial support from the Central Indiana Community Foundation (CICF), the Hendricks County Community Foundation, Hendricks Regional Health, Hendricks Power, IU Health West, Indy Gateway, and multiple individuals, was awarded a $4.6 million grant from the Next Level Trails program administered by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Download PDF > B&O Trail Association NLT Map and Description   January 2018 SKA has worked with the B&O Trail Association since 1996, helping to secure more than $6 million in funding, and providing planning, environmental studies, trail design and experiential graphics and identity systems. Founding members of the B&O Trail Association (BOTA), Diana Virgil and Jeff Smallwood, were pioneers in the Rails-to-Trails movement, participating in landmark court cases that clarified the arcane legal issues of rail corridor ownership, doggedly pursuing scarce funding sources for acquisition and construction, and patiently convincing hostile landowners that trails are a benefit to them and the larger community. BOTA is an independent, not-for-profit volunteer organization, that is not affiliated with any governmental agency. The B&O Rail Trail reached the six-mile mark in 2017 of open, paved trail, as it progresses across Hendricks County. Utilizing the acquired former CSX railroad […]

Karst Farm Greenway: Monroe County, IndianaThe Karst Farm Greenway is an outcome of the Monroe County Alternative Transportation & Greenways System Plan. The Storrow|Kinsella-authored plan was based on extensive community engagement, systems analysis, and conceptual design of place-based transportation elements.The Monroe County Alternative Transportation & Greenways System Plan is a vision document.  Its place-based transportation theory guided formation of the plan’s opportunities, concepts, and prioritization strategies. The plan’s recommendations support the community’s long-term goal of making alternative transportation a way of life for Monroe County residents. The plan provides a foundation and reference for funding projects such as the Karst Farm Greenway through programs such as the Federal Transportation Enhancement program, administered by the Indiana Department of Transportation. The plan is designed to be flexible and responsive to continuously evolving, and challenging, infrastructure funding scenarios, while setting high standards for future network development.  Karst Farm Greenway, the plan’s highest ranked priority project is now constructed, with future extensions under way. Storrow Kinsella designed the inaugural section as subconsultant to engineer-of-record, Butler Fairman & Seufert Civil Engineers. StrategiesThink beyond existing conditions to create the future. Monroe County is rapidly developing, and pressures on quality of life are continuing. Incorporating alternative transportation results in multiple benefits, including:Healthy lifestyles: alternative […]