Nickel Plate Trail groundbreaking signals start of project

The Nickel Plate Trail extension project kicked off Thursday morning with a groundbreaking ceremony at its current terminus in Rochester. By next July, the trail is to run north through Rochester, connecting with the Round Barn Golf Club at Mill Creek and Woodlawn Hospital trail.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held at the gazebo where the Nickel Plate Trail ends on Mitchell Drive in Rochester on Thursday, Nov. 7, kicking off the start of the trail's extension project. The trail will eventually be extended north into Rochester where it will connect to the Rochester Pathway that runs along the Round Barn Golf Club at Mill Creek and Woodlawn Hospital trail. 

Nickel Plate Trail board communications coordinator Dan McCarthy said he believes the extension will help bring in more people to Rochester who are traveling on the trail from outside of the community, potentially helping the city's economy. 

McCarthy said the Nickel Plate Trail addition will also be beneficial to Rochester residence as well. 

Among those in attendance for the groundbreaking ceremony, Rochester Mayor Trent Odell said he also sees a lot of potential benefits the trail's extension will have for Rochester's economy. Over the summer, the city approved a bid by E&B Paving to complete the trail's eight-tenths of a mile expansion. For motor vehicles, Park Street will become a one-way street, so the extension can safely run across Ninth Street to connect to the other trail. The project is set to be complete by July 2025. 

Pictured from left: Rochester Mayor Trent Odell, Mark McCall, Rick Ruppert, Mitch Hansel, Phil Bowers, William Click