Lake Max Trail  

2016 November 14 - Culver Bike Plan Presented

A plan for bike trails in the Culver area was presented during last week’s town council meeting. The Troyer Group has been working for over six months 'to put together a master plan for bike and pedestrian facilities.

Some of the things that really seemed to be the priorities were the trail around the lake, making a fully-designated, 10-foot-wide, multi-use trail that went all around Lake Maxinkuckee; bringing people downtown; connecting the park and Culver Academies to downtown,”

In order to build the bike trail system around the lake, the Troyer Group has divided the project into six phases. The first involves constructing trails through the town itself, connecting Downtown Culver to the Town Park and Culver Academies.

But in order to fit a separated, 10-foot-wide a reconfiguration of Washington Street may be necessary.

That first phase, just over eight-tenths of a mile, is expected to cost just over $1 million. That money may come from several different sources, including the Indiana Department of Transportation, the Regional Cities initiative, or funding from the town.

The other five future phases would connect the trail with Culver Community Schools and then eventually around Lake Maxinkuckee.

Due to right-of-way issues, the trail would likely have to be located a bit farther away from the lake in many areas, since the roads closest to the lake would not be able to accommodate a separated trail.

Similarly, efforts will be taken to avoid cutting through the Culver Academies campus, due to potential safety issues.

Also discussed was the possibility of building a boardwalk through the Lake Maxinkuckee Wetland Conservation

2017- Mar - 18 - Progress

The project began with creating a master plan last year with consulting firm Troyer Group for the trail to be funded if the town was named a Stellar Community. The idea is to create a scenic trail around the lake with the ability to accommodate walkers, runners and bicyclists as a way for residents to get some exercise and see the town from a different perspective.

The proposal within the Stellar Communities Program grant is a one mile section of the trail to the downtown area. The estimated cost is $1 million.

The project remains unfunded however it remains as a major project within this year’s application. The letter of intent for this and other projects will be submitted by the town in this year’s application process by April 28.

Since Culver’s defeat in the Steller Community designation, Leist said the Culver Town Council members decided to pursue a smaller grant from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources through the Recreational Trail Program.

The town is applying for funding for a half-mile section of the project with a total estimated cost of $240,000. This would take the trail from Culver Academy to the end of the Culver Town Park. The old railroad bed would be included in the trail.

The application for the Recreational Trail Program grant is May 1.

In other efforts to help gather funding for the bike and pedestrian trail, the Culver Redevelopment Commission recently approved a matching grant toward the plan. A $40,000 matching grant will help pay for a portion of the project from Culver Academy to Washington Street.

2017 - June 18 - Pliminary Plans as presented by Troyer Group of Mishawaka for the park area of the Lake Max Trail

The Culver Redevelopment Commission conditionally approved a qouote from Thomas Excavating for $135,400 to construct the section of the trail from the beach lodge to the ligiht house.

This contract is separate fromt he portion paved by the Marshall County highway department as it will rquire grading work, construction of a retaining wall; an also removing and replacing of concrete in the light house area.

This area was engineered designed to make it ADA compliant because of the difference in the elevation between the lighthouse and the beach lodge

Construction for this part of the projoect will begin around August 13th and is to be completed b y October 15th.

2018 - June - Marshall County Pving equipment were busy last week completeing the 1st leg of the bike trail prooject in the Town park. Marshall county committed to paving the trail as their in-kind contribution to the town's Stellar application

OCRA (Office of Community and Rural Affairs) Community Development Block Grants applications were submitted May 14, 2018 and are awaiting responses from state officials which is to be received late June or early July.
Past, present and transformation of the "Lake Road" from Washington Street access to Lighthouse



Phase Two of Park area :



Commissioners Support Culver’s Next Biking, Walking Trail Phase

The Town of Culver’s next construction phase of the Lake Maxinkuckee walking and biking trail has the support of the Marshall County Commissioners.

The next phase that runs along Academy Road which is in the county’s right-of-way. This is Culver’s proposed project in the Marshall County Crossroads Stellar Communities Designation application.

The resolution is basically saying that the county commissioners would give us permission, if we would receive the grant, to put a trail in that right-of-way

It would be on the south side of Academy Road where there’s currently off-street parking.

Two years ago we did a bike and pedestrian trail master plan for the Town of Culver and met with Culver Academies about how do we work out a trail. They own a significant amount of property around the lake so obviously we would want to work with them on that. This was the recommended route that we came up with.” The project, if awarded, wouldn’t be constructed until 2022 or 2023.

The commissioners supported the effort by approving a resolution regarding this project within the application.

2019 - March 11, 2019 - The Town of Culver is pleased to announce that we have recently been awarded $666,000 in Federal HighwayAdministration funds through the Indiana Department of Transportation! The award is for construction of Lake Maxinkuckee Trails Phase 3 beginning in fall of 2024. Additional funds for engineering will be awarded at a later date. The total project is expected to create approximately 1 mile of new trail with an estimated total budget of $1.1 million. The town will be responsible for providing a 20% local match to the awarded funds, a total ofapproximately $220,000 over the next five years. The town submitted a funding request in late fall 2018 for the next phase of Lake Maxinkuckee Trails, a section of trail that will connect the existing trail through the park to Culver Academies campus and east along State Road 10, ending near the intersection with East Shore Drive. In 2018, the Marshall County Commissioners, County Council, and Marshall County Highway Department provided an in-kind donation to pave the first mile of the Lake Maxinkuckee Trail through Culver Park, along with support from the Marshall County Community Foundation. Phase Two of the trail will connect the park and existing trail to Culver’s downtown and the southern end of town on South Main Street and was awarded funding through the Stellar Communities program. Phase Two is scheduled for construction in fall of 2022