Beatrice gets last link to complete Homestead Trail

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BY ALGIS J. LAUKAITIS / Lincoln Journal Star

Bicyclists and hikers may not have to wait too much longer to go from Lincoln to Beatrice on the Homestead Trail.

The Beatrice City Council  recently voted to accept the donation of an 8.5-mile abandoned railroad corridor from Pickrell to Cortland from the Nebraska Trails Foundation, thus acquiring the last unfinished stretch of trail from Lincoln to Beatrice.

“We charged them the ridiculous price of one dollar,” said Ross Greathouse, president of the Nebraska Trails Council, which started the foundation.

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Greathouse said he actually gave the city $10 out of his own pocket to complete the transaction. He joked that Beatrice officials made money on the deal because they didn’t give him change.

“Quite frankly, we wanted to sell. It’s a private foundation and as a private entity, it cannot receive federal funds,” Greathouse said. “You have to have a public entity own the trail in order to get trail enhancement money from the Federal Highway Administration.”

Now that the city of Beatrice owns the land, it will be eligible for federal grant money to complete the Pickrell-to-Cortland stretch. The segment is important because it would complete the Homestead Trail from the south  edge of Lincoln to Beatrice.

Beatrice Mayor Dennis Schuster said the city is “not really crazy” about owning land in northern Gage County. However, he said, the  state Department of Roads committee that oversees awarding federal grants for trails in Nebraska is interested in having the Pickrell-to-Cortland trail segment done.

Eventually, Schuster said, the city would like either the Lower Big Blue Natural Resources District or Gage County to assume ownership of the Homestead Trail from Beatrice to Cortland.

In June, the city of Beatrice applied for a $500,000 grant to finish the Pickrell-to-Cortland stretch but is on a short waiting list, said Robert Feit, director of administrative services for the Board of Public Works.

“They (the Roads Department committee) funded 16 projects and two other projects were approved if there is money available. We are one of those two other projects,” Feit said.

If Beatrice does not get the $500,000 this year, Feit said, the city will apply again this fall. The city also plans to develop three more miles of trail southeast of town.

Greathouse is confident the city will get the grant money and the trail segment will be finished by 2009.

“If any project drops out, they (Beatrice) will get their money. In almost any year, there are projects that drop out.”

The Homestead Trail, once a Union Pacific Railroad right of  way, stretches 59 miles from south of Saltillo Road near Lincoln to Marysville, Kan. The trail was so named because the corridor will take users near the Homestead National Monument close to Beatrice.

Greathouse said progress is being made on developing the southern portion of the trail beyond Beatrice. He said a group is being formed in Kansas to take ownership of a 12-mile trail segment from Marysville to the Nebraska-Kansas border. That stretch is owned by the Nebraska Trails Foundation.

Meanwhile, Greathouse said, the Nebraska Trails Foundation is looking for a group to assume ownership of an 18-mile stretch from the Nebraska-Kansas border to just south of Beatrice.

Reach Algis J. Laukaitis at 473-7243 or alaukaitis@journalstar.com.