A series of bumps across the asphalt trail in Niles, just north of Fort Street, have been so bone-jarring in recent years that many cyclists have bypassed that section of trail.
And now cracks and bumps are growing in the asphalt of the Riverside Trail in South Bend that, if left untreated, could become just as nasty. It’s not the fate you want to see for one of the area’s most scenic and well-used trails, a key portion of the trail that links Mishawaka to Niles and that, one day, could become a larger regional destination.
Not to forget some cracks in the connecting LaSalle Trail through Roseland that have festered so long that grass is sprouting through them.
Thankfully, cures are on the way. Or, at least, talk of them.
Just in recent weeks, crews from the city of Niles cut out and replaced sections of asphalt at the worst bumps. City Administrator Ric Huff says he still hopes to secure funding for “a more extensive trail project.”
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He says the recent repairs are meant to “to hold things over” in the 2010-built path while the city pursues a federal grant for a series of projects, including about $250,000 for trail repairs.
“I ride a lot of trails throughout Michigan and all of them have the same issue with tree roots when trees are located close to the pavement," Huff says. “The City does not own enough right of way in many of the trail sections to clear cut like the trail was just across the state line.”
In South Bend, the Riverside Trail has long suffered from root-caused bumps along a big tree near the river launch north of Cleveland Road. But new cracks and ridges have been forming elsewhere over the past year, including natural rumble strips near Lathrop Place.
It took about a month for her to get a response from an official, but South Bend spokeswoman Allison Zeithammer recently reported to me: "Venues Parks and Arts is scheduling minor asphalt repairs along the Riverside Trail. These repairs are expected to be completed this summer and should not cause significant disruptions to the public."
I’m waiting to hear how, specifically, the repairs will be made. Will the city slice out and repair pavement as Niles did? Or squirt sealant on flat cracks as has been done for trails at the western edge of the University of Notre Dame?
In Roseland, town council President Mike Schalk is upset with the LaSalle Trail’s poor condition just north of Douglas Road. He pledges to find funding to repair the cracks. He’d also like to cut back the overgrown saplings and trees that apparently have caused the troubles.
Schalk says he’d worked in the town’s maintenance department around 2001-2002 and again 2012-2016, saying the town often cut back trees and growth.
“We always tried to do whatever we could to make the trail habitable,” he says.
But Schalk, who took office Jan. 1, says he’s “been trying to play catch up” after the prior town council disbanded the parks board and assumed that the trail was the county’s responsibility. He disagrees and says the onus is on the town.
“We don’t want to be the blight of the community,” he says of the trail. “We want it more presentable for everybody.”
The reality is that you cannot just raise the money to build a trail. You have to budget dollars to maintain it, then do the maintenance work. The volunteer groups that built and oversee two major Northern Indiana trails in our region, the Panhandle Pathway and Nickel Plate Trail, both get that. They are often patching up asphalt.
Now there’s a specially equipped Trek bike, ridden by AmeriCorps member Antone Getz, to scan and record bumps and bad pavement along all of the 136 or more miles of paved trails in St. Joseph, Elkhart, Marshall and Kosciusko counties.
Getz, whose job title is the South Bend Bike Ambassador, must ride over bumps whenever he sees them.
The bike has a 360-degree camera that scans the surroundings for a Google Street View sort of perspective, explains Dustin New, the active transportation planner for the Michiana Area Council of Governments. It’s a MACOG project.
Another camera on the bike points down and captures images of the pavement. Meanwhile, a mounted cellphone records vibrations from the road as a bump detector.
(As Getz makes return trips, another feature on the bike records and maps out benches, drinking fountains and such for an inventory of trail features.)
All of this is geo-located so that, New says, when all of the photos and data are compiled, they can pinpoint where the trail issues are.
Getz has ridden about 50 miles so far, or about a third of the way. New says the data will go to a software company for analysis. Then he hopes that, by year’s end, MACOG can present cities, towns and trail managers with precise trail conditions.
That, he says, will help them to map priorities and costs and, hopefully, put money in their budgets for trail maintenance. No excuses.
Learn, sound off on trails
∎ Safety survey: Take a brief survey from MACOG on how to make biking, walking, rolling and driving safer in St. Joseph, Elkhart, Marshall and Kosciusko counties. The online survey at movesafe.macog.com is in both English and Spanish and is available until Aug. 22. But there is also an interactive map where you can respond to other people’s comments. Or you can create your own concern or comment for a specific location. Follow the instructions through the dark blue bar along the top. Your input will help to drive a Regional Transportation Safety Action Plan, thanks to a federal Safe Streets and Roads for All grant. The plan will guide local agencies in their policies and visions for transportation.
∎ Granger Paths plan: The Friends of Granger Paths invites the public to an “open forum” where it will take thoughts, ideas and feedback for the future trail plans (that is, its master plan) at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 8 at the Harris Branch Library at 51446 Elm Road, Granger.
∎ Maps: For a map of paved trails and bike lanes in St. Joseph, Elkhart, Marshall and Kosciusko counties, visit www.macog.com/docs/transportation/active/bike_map.pdf. MACOG is in the process of updating the maps and creating a map app, perhaps ready late in 2024.
Find columnist Joseph Dits on Facebook at SBTOutdoorAdventures or 574-235-6158 or jdits@sbtinfo.com.
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