The abandoned Monon railroad in New Albany that will be converted into the 62.3-mile South Monon Freedom Trail. Photo courtesy of City of New Albany
The abandoned Monon railroad in New Albany that will be converted into the 62.3-mile South Monon Freedom Trail. Photo courtesy of City of New Albany
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In Tuesday's State of the State address, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb announced that the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is allocating $29.5 million to acquire an abandoned railroad and develop a 62.3-mile trail from New Albany to Mitchell. It will follow the route of the historic Monon Railroad in Southern Indiana.

The pathway will be Indiana's longest contiguous recreational trail. It will span five counties, including Floyd, Clark, Washington, Lawrence and Orange.

New Albany Mayor Jeff Gahan said the announcement takes the Rails to Trails project from a "pipe dream" to a "reality." Along with Radius Indiana, the city is a lead partner in the effort to establish the regional Monon South Trail, also known as the South Monon Freedom Trail.

Gahan said with the acquisition of the railroad and the support from the state and regional communities, he expects to "see a lot of speed in getting this conversion from a rail to a really wonderful trail throughout Southern Indiana."

"The new Monon South Trail brings fresh connections to our river city and for our neighbors throughout the region," he said. “When our state, regional and local partners join together, great things can happen.”

The state funding includes $5.5 million from the Next Level Trails program to fund the acquisition of the railroad. DNR led the negotiations with CSX to buy the abandoned railway property.

The $24 million in Next Level Trails funding will support the design, engineering and construction of the trail.

“With this new Monon South trail, we will have invested nearly $150 million in trails since 2019, another example of the state helping meet the demand to explore and discover — in Indiana — right in their backyards,” Holcomb said in Tuesday's announcement.

The City of New Albany will own and manage the segment of the trail in Floyd County, and Radius Indiana will take care of the rest in Clark, Washington, Orange and Lawrence counties.

After starting in New Albany, the trail will go through Borden, New Pekin, Salem, Campbellsburg, Saltillo, Orleans and Mitchell.

The Clark County segment will connect with Clark State Forest and Deam Lake Recreation Area, and it will tie in with the Knobstone Trail.

Jeff Quyle, president and CEO of Radius Indiana, notes that the regional economic development organization does not serve Clark County, but it will be working closely with the county for the development of the regional trail.

"We've been talking to them for a few years now as we've been trying to build community awareness along the corridor of the potential of this trail coming," he said.

Quyle emphasized the economic benefits of developing the regional trail.

"This is going to really fit right in with that local economy that focuses on things like hospitality, tourism, hiking — there are a whole lot of opportunities for new business growth along the corridor. We'll see businesses springing up that serve the tourists but will also be new businesses that serve the residents of the communities."

The trail will provide opportunities for people to improve both their physical and mental health, and it will bring opportunities for economic development and "new social connections throughout the state," Gahan said.

"Giving people the opportunity to get outdoors and see and get in touch with nature will bring lots of improvement to the quality of life for many, many people, especially here in New Albany and Southern Indiana," he said.

The City of New Albany has received previous grants to support the South Monon Freedom Trail project, including $4 million from the Indiana Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative (READI) funding and $2 million from the 2022 Next Level Trails grant.

"We already have several waves of funding already in place, and [$29.5 million] will just add to that funding," Gahan said. "It will also give our neighbors up north an opportunity to begin to develop the trail in their corresponding counties. So the funding will be spread out between the five counties."

In New Albany, the trailhead will be located north of the new Sazerac facility (the former Pillsbury Plant) near Grant Line Road. The City of New Albany also plans to connect the trail to the riverfront.

This will involve extending the trail near Grant Line Road and connecting it with a downtown segment running from Fairview Cemetery to the shoreline, ultimately joining with the Ohio River Greenway.

Gahan touted the regional benefits of the project even beyond the communities that the trail will directly cross through.

"The rails-to-trails connection will give access to a connection with our Greenway, which eventually connects to Clarksville, Jeffersonville, and into Louisville," Gahan said. "So I think the benefits are truly a regional project, and it's one that we're proud to say we're on the front end."

In December of 2017, the City of New Albany filed for the original right to negotiate for the trail, and in partnership with Radius Indiana and DNR, negotiations with CSX and the Surface Transportation Board began in 2018.

Project leaders are ultimately planning for the South Monon Freedom Trail to encompass 68 miles stretching to Bedford, but for now, they are focusing on the 62.3 miles going to Mitchell.

The City of New Albany has other projects in the works that will connect to the South Monon Freedom Trail. New Albany is extending the Ohio River Greenway along the riverfront and establishing Silver Creek Landing — both projects will expand the city's trail system.

"Those connections will all complement the Rails to Trails, so in my view, it's one big project," Gahan said. "Our shoreline, our extension of the Greenway, our connections to our waterways — this is just a continuation of what we've been building for a number of years in an effort to improve the health and quality of life of everyone in New Albany, and this will affect everyone in Southern Indiana."

Radius has already established a nonprofit organization called Southern Indiana Trailways, Inc. to support the South Monon trail project.

"We've had it sitting more or less empty waiting to be implemented, so we will be populating that with a board of directors that will include community representatives from each of the four counties," Quyle said. "So they will give us a partner that Radius can work with and rely on to have community input and support for the projects."

Quyle said Radius has already spent $650,000 in the past couple of years for the trail project, and the Indiana Uplands READI region has committed $1 million.

One of the next steps includes determining the final strategy and timeline for financing and completing the projects, he said.

He said the state saw the opportunity to improve the quality of life in Southern Indiana.

"I've lived in communities with trails, and they are a magnet for people," Quyle said. "People who live around trails like to be able to go out and walk on them or ride their bikes on them. You can take your kids or your pets along the trail. So it's a good quality of life improvement for all of these communities, and it's a way to tie several communities together. The heritage of the Monon South is something they all share."

Indiana DNR Director Dan Bortner said the regional trail "represents Indiana's history and our future."

“I’m thankful for our partners with the City of New Albany and Radius Indiana for helping chart this path forward for these communities across Southern Indiana," he said in a Tuesday news release.
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