NOTE: The KRT Extension is not a VCTA project. VCTA has members involved in planning, but the project is spearheaded by the City of Danville and Vermilion County Conservation District, as well as the existing KRT organizations.
It’s fair to say that without the KRT, VCTA probably wouldn’t exist. Not because we’d be any less enthusiastic about trails and pedestrian transportation, but because there would be much less awareness and excitement in the general population for these kinds of opportunities. The Trestle Bridge alone is probably worth its weight in gold for this kind of hype building!
However, while the full 24 mile KRT will be complete by the end of 2026 (probably), it currently ends at the Vermilion County Fairgrounds and Kickapoo State Recreation Area, just ~4mi from the City of Danville. That means that every day it isn’t extended into Danville is one in which all the visitors to the KRT fail to visit our community and spend their dollars there.
The City of Danville and other stakeholders are currently in the planning phase for a KRT extension segment that would complete the KRT from its current terminus all the way into Danville at Ellsworth Park, the Westside Trails, and the CARLE medical campus. Future potential even exists to demolish the deteriorating bridge structure on the north side of Ellsworth and replace it with a pedestrian bridge, where it would connect directly into the Logan Ave. Pedestrian Path and the greater Danville Active Transportation Network.
The extension would bring the KRT in close proximity to the Hillary, Batestown, and Vermilion Heights neighborhoods, and bring these edge neighborhoods closer to the Danville city core by short walk or ride, as well as making it possible to easily walk or ride from Danville to KSRA. It would also tap in to the commercial district around I74 exit 210 and the entrance to KSRA.
If you support this project, please consider contacting influential public officials, from local up to Federal. Making public comments at meetings and networking among peers are also great ways to get words of support circulating around this important project!