A ribbon-cutting ceremony last week in Ogden officially opened another 1.5-mile stretch of the Kickapoo Rail Trail in eastern Champaign County.
Among those attending the ceremony were Ogden Mayor Gabe Clements, Ogden trustees, residents, representatives from Farnsworth Group engineers, Champaign County Forest Preserve District commissioners and staff, Friends of KRT, the rail tree steering committee and members of the Urbana Park District and Vermilion County Forest Preserve District.
The trail, which one day will run for 24.5 miles from Urbana to the Danville area, is located on a former CSC rail line acquired in 2013 by the Champaign County and Vermilion County conservation districts. The first section in Champaign County was completed in 2017.
With last week’s opening, 8.2 miles have been completed in Champaign County, with another 3 miles remaining, and 3 miles have been finished in Vermilion County.
Bridget Moen, planning director for the Champaign County Forest Preserve District, said construction documents have been finished for the remaining 3 miles.
“As soon as we have our funding available (possibly from the state of Illinois) it will be very quick to finish the rest of the trail,” Moen said. “Vermilion County will take longer because they don’t have their construction documents.”