Trail could be closed several months

Construction on a new section of the Pumpkinvine Nature Trail between York Dr. and the end of the current trail east of the Dairy Queen in Middlebury will require the trail to be closed from State Road 13 to County Road 43. Construction could begin in the next two weeks, and is scheduled to be finished by the end of May 2013.

“The closing is necessary because trail construction is happening at the same time State Road 13 will be resurfaced from the Dairy Queen to State Road 4, making it impossible to have trail traffic exit onto State Road 13 at the Dairy Queen,” according to Scott Van Ommeran, superintendent of Elkhart County Parks.

The decision to close the trail was made by the three organizations responsible for the construction:  Elkhart County Parks (the managing agency), Indiana Department of Transportation (the funding agency) and Walsh and Kelly (the construction firm).

“We do not want people continuing west past County Road 43 and getting to the end of the trail with nowhere to go,” Van Ommeran said.  “The liability of allowing people to blaze their own trail through the construction zone or across private property is too high. After discussion of alternatives to closing the trail, Elkhart County Parks, INDOT and Walsh and Kelly agreed that they could not provide temporary access across private property in order to keep the trail open during construction.”

Trail users are advised to be patient with the inconvenience because the end result will be a great addition to the Pumpkinvine Nature Trail. The suggested routes for trail users coming from the east is to turn north on CR 43 and use CR 14 to reach State Road 13.