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Funding secured for Greenway expansion Friday Mar 16, 2018 at 4:58 PM Mar 16, 2018 at 4:58 PM Nick Morgan Mail Tribune @mtcrimebeat Thanks to grants from federal and state agencies, a 10-mile extension of the Rogue River Greenway in the Gold Hill and Rogue River areas will start construction next year. About $2.5 million secured through transportation grants and Rogue River Greenway Foundation funds mean that work will begin on a 10-mile stretch of trail from the Depot Street Bridge in Rogue River to the sports park along the Rogue River in Gold Hill, according to a press release issued by the Greenway Foundation. The bulk of the funding was a $2 million block grant from an agency within the U.S. Department of Transportation, which will fund a section of trail between Rock Point Bridge in Gold Hill to Valley of the Rogue State Park, according to Jackson County Roads and Parks Director John Vial, who applied for the grant. Though Jackson County will handle the construction, Vial said “there’s no Jackson County funds going into it.” The Greenway Foundation “paid the match,” he said. Vial said he applied for the $2 million Surface Transportation Block Grant grant through the Middle Rogue Metropolitan Planning Organization, which is responsible for transportation and infrastructure planning in the Grants Pass-Rogue River area. The federal grant is used to “preserve and improve conditions” related to projects that include pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, the program’s website said. Other funding involved in the project, according to the Greenway Foundation, includes a $403,000 Oregon Department of Transportation grant and $47,000 the foundation raised through its Ride the Rogue cycling events. Next steps include design work, right-of-way negotiations and permitting, according to the Greenway Foundation. The foundation anticipates the trail will be completed by the end of 2019. Proposals will go out to bidders by spring 2019, Vial said, and construction is expected to begin about six weeks later. Reach Mail Tribune reporter Nick Morgan at 541-776-4471 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @MTCrimeBeat.