By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
The Wood County portion of the Chessie Circle Trail is chugging along.
At the June Wood County Park Board meeting, the park commissioners authorized Wood County Park Director Christopher Smalley to represent the board for all proceedings related to construction of the planned rails-to-trails portion in Wood County.
The trail project will be completed in two phases, Smalley said. From River Road southeast along Ford Road to White Road is phase one. From White Road along the backside of the W.W. Knight Nature Preserve up to Bates Road is phase two.
Named for CSX, the railroad that once used the corridor, the Chessie Circle Trail project started more than 20 years ago, Smalley said. Several government agencies talked about converting the former railroad to a trail. The City of Toledo, Toledo Metroparks, University of Toledo, Wood County Park District and Wood County Port Authority supported the idea.
The trail north of the Maumee River is completed and hosted by the City of Toledo, Toledo Metroparks and University of Toledo. The portion south of the river is undeveloped and includes the shoreline next to the Ohio Turnpike bridge that is owned by the Wood County Port Authority and the abandoned railway next to W.W. Knight Nature Preserve that has been owned by the county park district for many years.
The Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments (TMACOG) received $850,000 for design and engineering costs for a bicycle and pedestrian bridge that will connect the Lucas County and Wood County trails, U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Toledo announced May 6.
With the bridge project starting to move forward, plans for the Wood County corridor will proceed as well. “The park district partnered with the Wood County Port Authority, which will raise funds for engineering and build sections of the Chessie Circle trail and then turn it over to the park district for the long term.
“The port authority will do the heavy lifting up front, partnering with us to get our section of the park done,” Smalley said.
“Their board sees the benefits of improved quality of life in Wood County and how that can be a key component and economic driver,” he said. “We are very fortunate to have forward-thinking individuals like that at the Port Authority.”
Smalley said there is a lot of work to be done, but he hopes to break ground and start construction in 2025.
At the June meeting, the board also learned that the Ohio Department of Transportation is considering improvement projects near Otsego Park and has asked the park for right-of-way on “a small sliver on the outer edge of the property,” Smalley explained. The right-of-way would not involve any main park or the launch area sections.
He was authorized to represent the board and the district on all property proceedings for the ODOT right-of-way project to improve “for the betterment of our roadways in Wood County.”
Alex Helwig, restoration specialist with the park district, presented “What’s in Bloom in Your Wood County Parks.”
Though the flowering plants are constantly changing, she said the late spring varieties that are in bloom in early June include sedges, Southern blue flag irises, Ohio spiderwort, foxglove beardtongue, common milkweed, Canada anemone, lance-leaved coreopsis, Canada thistle and poison hemlock.
Candace Weis, president of Friends of the Wood County Parks, said the group’s birding trip in May offered many birding tips including what to listen for and how to distinguish between a buzzard and an eagle in the air.
The friends group also hosted a staff appreciation lunch on June 20.
“We are fortunate to have such a good group of folks who support the park district and the staff,” Smalley said. “Forty people is no small task and they do it out of the kindness of their hearts.”
