Evansville Region Trail Master Plan

March 2025—A Milestone for Our Region: The Completion of the First-Ever Regional Trails Master Plan

Exciting news for our Evansville Region Community!

The Evansville-Area Trails Coalition (ETC) has officially completed its first-ever Evansville Region Trails Master Plan with help from Butler, Fairman, & Seufert, Civil Engineering firm. This transformative blueprint lays the foundation for a more connected, accessible, and active future! This milestone represents a bold vision for expanding our trail network, creating safe and seamless routes for walking, biking, and wheeling—enhancing mobility for both residents and visitors alike.

Developed through partnership with the Department of Parks and Recreation, Board of Park Commissioners and collaboration with community leaders, stakeholders, and passionate trailblazer advocates, this plan identifies key corridors and priority projects that will improve connectivity between neighborhoods, parks, businesses, and cultural destinations. With this roadmap in place, we now have the opportunity to take the next steps: securing funding, mobilizing support, and beginning the work to bring these trails to life!

What’s Next?

With the plan complete, attention now turns to implementation. This means:

Pursuing funding opportunities—grants, public-private partnerships, and local investments to make these projects a reality.
Advocating for community support—ensuring that residents and leaders champion trail development as a vital part of our infrastructure.
Securing regional city partnerships—creating regional city partnerships is key to successful implementation and unifies our efforts to secure our connections.
Breaking ground on priority connections—focusing on high-impact projects that will quickly enhance access and usability.

The completion of this plan is just the beginning. Together, we can build a trail system that fosters health, sustainability, and economic vitality—making the Evansville Region a premier destination for active transportation and outdoor recreation.

Let’s move forward, step by step, to create a more connected future. Stay engaged, spread the word, and be part of the momentum!

Watch for the announcement of our upcoming Trail Plan Celebration Open House at the Pagoda!

Trails create connections and mobility opportunities between districts and regional Cities.

February 2024 Evansville Region Trails Master Plan Kick-off!

Planning for Future Connectivity: The Evansville Region Trails Master Plan - Our Blueprint for an Exciting Future

Evansville Area Trails Coalition hires expert consultants to develop comprehensive Evansville Region Trail Master Plan

The Evansville Area Trails Coalition (ETC), a leading trails advocacy organization, is thrilled to announce a groundbreaking collaboration with Butler, Fairman and Seufert, renowned civil engineers specializing in trails, greenways, and parks planning. This partnership marks a significant stride in ETC's commitment to achieving unparalleled excellence in local and regional trails connection development.

Butler, Fairman and Seufert bring a wealth of knowledge and experience in trail master plan development, aligning seamlessly with ETC's dedication to trail planning and development leadership. The collaboration underscores ETC's commitment to remaining at the forefront of the field.

Butler, Fairman and Seufert will actively engage with the community throughout the planning process, steadfastly focusing on community well-being and sustainable urban development. This includes soliciting input from residents and local businesses and working closely with stakeholders and government bodies. The goal is to craft a comprehensive Evansville Region Trails Master Plan that caters to diverse needs and desires, ensuring widespread participation and ownership.

The Evansville Region Trails Master Plan aims to create a seamless trail network connecting the city, county, and regional cities. The interconnected system will promote pedestrian and cyclist-friendly environments, fostering accessibility and healthier, more active communities. The plan is expected to have a positive economic impact on the region by attracting outdoor enthusiasts, promoting tourism, and enhancing property values along the trail corridors.

Butler, Fairman and Seufert will play a pivotal role in guiding ETC and the community through the trail planning processes. They will leverage their expertise to identify fresh opportunities for trail system development, fostering local and regional connectivity. This initiative aims to enhance overall trail-build planning and fundraising plan implementation, contributing to the realization of a developed regional trail master plan.

Trails are resilient Infrastructure, serving as an affordable, sustainable transportation and recreation Network

Executive Summary

The Evansville-Area Trails Coalition is the regional trails, pedestrian, and bicycle advocacy nonprofit organization. Our advocacy efforts consist of the development of multi-use trails and facilitating an accessible, safe, connected, walkable, and bicycle-friendly community, with focused attention to trail development, safety, active living program initiatives, and alternative transportation mobility connections. Our work centers around advocacy efforts that create opportunities for equitable infrastructure improvements and the policy systems and environmental changes that facilitate and support active transportation such as walking, bicycling, and wheeling. Local and regional trail system networks consist of limited miles of Greenway trail (multiuse and shared-use paths) and over 100+ natural surface trails in many parks, green spaces, and recreation areas throughout the Evansville region. Opportunities to connect local trails to our regional cities is at the forefront of community discussion and planning.

The approach to enhancing quality of life and the local environment involves cataloging and assessing all current and forthcoming trails within Evansville and the broader regional area. This evaluation aims to pinpoint deficiencies in the trail network, with the goal of formulating a comprehensive strategy to seamlessly link trails throughout the entire region. As we prepare for the implementation of these improvement initiatives, we are actively engaged in planning efforts to connect these trails, ultimately elevating the overall quality of life and boosting the region's attractiveness.

A comprehensive, multicounty trail action plan is warranted to provide context and direction in completing our trail system network throughout wards and districts within the Evansville region. A robust, interconnected, and comprehensive trail system is crucial for promoting community well-being, inclusivity, and the attainment of the objective of providing secure accessibility to individuals of various age groups. In our planning approach, we prioritize the inclusion of links in underserved areas, with a focus on accommodating community members of all ages who utilize active transportation for leisure, health, well-being, or as an alternative means of transportation to routine or essential destinations.

This plan seeks to establish a balanced approach to trail development that prioritizes accessibility, connectivity, sustainability, and equity. By addressing these elements, the Trail Master Plan aims to create a network of trails that benefit all members of the community while promoting physical activity, environmental stewardship, and social cohesion. With attention to regional connectivity, we purpose to gain insight into the next phases of action toward developing a Trails System Master Plan to confirm and/or identify connection trail corridors to bridge the connectivity “gaps” to existing Greenway Trails. Observation of development, design, acquisition and implementation phases will conclude in a defined plan to guide future actionable steps to establish a strategy for each trail project, relative to cost. This activity will assist with developing a funding plan, identify grant opportunities and trail-build execution.