The Pickaway County Park District is excited to announce that, thanks to our State Representatives and Garry Scherer, that the District has been awarded $500,000 in a State Capital Grant to begin the process of building a pedestrian bridge over the Scioto River. This Bridge will connect the City of Circleville to Canal Park and the Pickaway Trail, which is planned to run from New Holland into Circleville in the future. This bridge would be on the existing railroad corridor and on the existing railroad abutments across the river. Having this bridge would allow pedestrians and bikes to cross the river to connect to the City as well as to approximately 14 miles of existing and proposed trails as well as an additional 14 miles of trail once the connection to New Holland is made on the Pickaway Trail.
The Scioto River Bridge Project is expected to take the District several years to complete and is estimated to cost approximately 2.5 million. To expedite the process, double the money given to us by the State Capital Grant and to be good stewards of local tax payers money, the District will be going after further grants to complete this project. These grant will likely include, but are not limited to, the Clean Ohio Trail Grant in 2021 and 2022, a TAP Grant in 2022 and a second State Capital Budget Grant.
The District will be applying for the first Clean Ohio Trail Grant in March of 2021 and if we are fortunate enough to receive funding will know by November of 2021. Receiving the Clean Ohio Trails Grant would then allow the District to beginning design and engineering work for the Scioto River bridge in 2022 and to further go after grant funding to begin construction in the following year.
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