In December, Taylor University announced the extension of the Cardinal Greenway path through Taylor Wilderness, as part of the Main Street Mile Initiative.
The Cardinal Greenway, as described in a press release, is a rails to trails path spanning 62 miles from Marion to Richmond, the longest in Indiana. Rail-trail paths are cycling and walking trails converted from former railroad corridors, connecting towns and cities with easily accessible and safe trails.
The expansion seeks to fill an 18-mile ‘gap’ in the Greenway. Trail users must ride on county roads shared with other traffic, rather than dedicated paths.
Two miles of the Greenway will be constructed in the Taylor Wilderness, winding through the school’s cross-country course and connecting to trails leading to Taylor’s campus and downtown Upland. The press release stated the trail will begin at a trailhead on 800E, more famously known as the Devil’s Backbone, and will connect to a kayak and canoe launch site on the Mississinewa River.
Andrea Masvero, the executive director of 1846 Enterprises, said this expansion has been considered for some time now, stating that there’s been a lot of support for it. Supporters have included those at all levels of society - state politicians, the Upland Greenway Association, and cycling enthusiasts on campus.
Taylor’s main role in the construction is to provide funding for the project, Masvero said.
“We’re working in partnership with Cardinal Greenways,” she said. ”They will provide some funding and guidance, and we will provide some funding and some guidance. Then we work with a trail consultant called Flatlands that actually does the planning and the coordination and contracting to make sure the trail gets built.”
Students will be able to use the pathway for running, walking, cycling and getting to other towns without needing to drive.
The Cardinal Greenway was built in 1993, when CSX, a rail company, sold off one of their lines.
“Our founding members knew that it would be a great idea to construct a multi-use rail trail for walkers, runners, joggers, moms with strollers, for people in wheelchairs,” Angie Pool, CEO of Cardinal Greenways, said. “They really wanted that system to be built in East Central Indiana… So, we ended up acquiring, at the time, 60 miles of rail line.”
However, while buying the land in the 90s, a group of landowners bought the portion of the line that Cardinal Greenways sought to acquire, resulting in the “infamous gap.” Cardinal Greenways has been focusing on filling in the gap for about a decade now and is looking forward to laying down the miles. Pool hopes the Taylor portion of the trail will be finished by next winter, late 2025 or early 2026.
As the first portion of the gap is finished, Pool hopes the project will snowball.
“We feel that with the Cardinal — or any trail system — once pavement goes down, that passion comes right back,” Pool said. “We’re hopeful … that that momentum will just carry on and the excitement will grow. And we can really make it happen and keep connecting the trails.”
However, Pool expects the rest of the trail to be finished much later, with the next section finished in perhaps in five to six years.
Part of the reason Taylor is funding the Greenway’s construction is to improve students’ health and wellbeing, Masvero said.
“This is an amenity that makes it easier for people to be outdoors and active. Certainly, connections to nature are important to us, and this accomplishes that as well.”
Taylor, Masvero added, seeks to improve its students' quality of life, such as better health and wellness.
Yet, Masvero said other reasons for investing arise as well.
“We’ve got the economic-development incentives of trying to give people a reason to come through our region and to spend time and resources in Upland,” she said. “Also, this is for local people to enjoy: being outdoors, then getting exercise and connecting socially, walking with people or riding bikes together.”
