(Toledo, OH) The Toledo Metroparks is about to make a big grant request for a long-term bike trail.
The Metroparks board will request nearly $13.5 million from the federal department of transportation through a competitive grant program that focuses on rural areas.
The park district is seeking the funding to build a north-south bike trail into the existing Wabash Cannonball Trail at the new Cannonball Prairie Metropark to Wiregrass Lake. If the funding is approved, the project is the next step in the so-called Oak Openings trail, which eventually would connect that Oak Openings Preserve to Secor Metropark in Sylvania Township.
The overall aim is to eventually create a 50-to-100 mile loop of connecting biking and hiking trails throughout western Lucas County that also involves trails in the Olander Park System and the University Trail.