Efforts to extend the Panhandle Pathway could get a boost from the Indiana Department of Transportation. Plans call for the trail to be extended north from Winamac to the Tippecanoe River State Park, with much of it running along U.S. 35.
Fred Kasten is part of the committee working on the extension. He recently told the Pulaski County Commissioners that the effort hadn’t gotten much support from INDOT in the past, but now it’s recommending that the group apply for one of its grant opportunities. “This is an application for building it, actually, in 2026, so there’s a lot of process to go through before we even get to it,” Kasten explained. “And at this point, it looks like INDOT will handle the construction of it.”
He said the grant would require a 20-percent local match, which the Friends of the Panhandle Pathway plans to raise itself. A future phase would connect the Panhandle Pathway with the Erie Trail near Bass Station.
The county commissioners agreed to let either Community Development Commission Executive Director Nathan Origer or Highway Superintendent Gary Kruger serve as the primary contact on the INDOT grant application.
