New Trail Planned for Putnam Neighborhood

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – The City of Zanesville continually makes efforts to revamp the surroundings in its neighborhoods to improve the quality of life for its residents.

Muskingum Valley Park District Executive Director Russell Edgington talked about a walking and biking trail being built in the Putnam neighborhood.

“We have been working on what we’re calling the Putnam Greenway,” Edgington said. “It was formerly a CSX Transportation rail-line property that was acquired by the park district probably close to 20-years-ago, with original assistance from the Clean Ohio Conservation Fund. We were fortunate enough to secure a grant from the Straker Foundation and the project is actually now in the preliminary planning stages.”

The Muskingum Valley Park District is partnering with the City of Zanesville, who is clearing much of the underbrush for upcoming engineering and construction. The trail will begin at Putnam Landing and end at the Zanesville Community High School. The project is scheduled to be completed by the fall of 2023.

“We’re looking at a 10-foot-wide, asphalt-paved, trail. So it will be sufficient for bicycling, walking, basically at 10 feet you can have somebody with a baby stroller and then safely have a bicyclist passing without any safety issues,” Edgington said.

The long-range plan is to link the Putnam Greenway Trail to the Zane’s Landing Trail that would eventually connect with the Muskingum Recreational Trail, which would create a path from Zanesville to Dresden.