TMACOG receives $850,000 to design Chessie Circle Trail expansion

Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments (TMACOG) will receive $850,000 through U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur's Community Projects Fund to continue development of the Chessie Circle Trail in Lucas and Wood counties, including preliminary design of a new bike-pedestrian bridge across the Maumee River.

Congresswoman Kaptur and local leaders announced the funding during a news conference Monday at W.W. Knight Nature Preserve in Perrysburg Township. They highlighted the active regional partnership that has helped develop the regional trail network including the Chessie Circle, which will expand into northern Wood County in the coming years.

“When local and federal entities come together, we can achieve great things. This is a transformative federal investment in recreation, that will connect our communities and open up so many new possibilities," said Congresswoman Kaptur (OH-09). "The Chessie Circle Trail connection project will provide another source of transportation and recreation to our Northwest Ohio region, while expanding disadvantaged communities’ access to jobs, educational opportunities, and housing options.”

The Chessie Circle Trail, an 11-mile multiuse path built on a former rail corridor, is a hallmark example of regional partnership needed to coordinate development across community boundaries. A consortium of local stakeholders purchased the property in October 2011 with a combination of $7,665,275 of federal funds through Congresswoman Kaptur’s office plus $1 million in local matching funds.

Local partners who now own sections of the corridor are Metroparks Toledo, the University of Toledo, the City of Toledo, Wood County Park District, and Wood County Port Authority. The group worked with TMACOG to guide trail development through a regional coordinating committee.

Metroparks Toledo built the first section of trail in 2017 between River Road and Glanzman Road in South Toledo. The City of Toledo continued development between Bowman Park and University Hills Boulevard in West Toledo.

The existing trail averages hundreds of users per day, even in the winter, and many more in the spring and summer. Additional Wood County sections will be built in the next few years, with plans to pursue expansion even further throughout the region.

Multiuse paths better connect communities when coordinated across boundaries and allow people of all abilities to access recreation and alternative transportation options, said Sandy Spang, TMACOG executive director.

“The Chessie Circle Trail is a success story for regional partnership and coordination,” Spang said. “We believe that developing new sections will make the Chessie Circle Trail one of the most popular trails in our region; however, we still face the challenge of creating a more direct connection between Lucas and Wood counties across the Maumee River.”

This funding will allow TMACOG and the Chessie Circle Coordinating Committee to engineer ways to create new trail sections and make connections with other pieces of the regional trail network. One project under evaluation is the creation of a bike-pedestrian bridge that would extend from the River Road Trailhead southeast across the river next to an existing Ohio Turnpike bridge near Maumee and South Toledo.

Additional funding will be needed for the full preliminary engineering phase of the bridge project. TMACOG and its partners will also evaluate potential means of funding for construction, which is estimated at $16 million.

An investment of planning funds will help regional partners develop projects that can be submitted for construction funding.

“Quality of life issues like an interconnected trail network are an important piece of economic development. Things like this are what younger generations are looking for when they’re deciding where they want to live, work, and potentially raise a family,” said Rex Huffman, executive director and general counsel for Wood County Port Authority.

“Being able to attract and retain people as part of our region’s workforce in turn makes the area more attractive to businesses looking to relocate or expand their operations. Having a robust trail network is part of how we maintain a healthy, vibrant workforce that employers need.”