A Brief History

Our story actually begins with a group of volunteers in Hendricks County looking to turn the abandoned Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) Railroad into a multi use trail. This process has been carried out throughout the nation as part of a rails-to-trails program. This group, B&O Trail Association (BOTA), formed in 1993 and began work immediately.

In 2007 BOTA came to the Speedway High School to inform us of an opportunity to build a multi-modal trail on the abandoned B&O railroad corridor in the Town of Speedway. A group of interested individuals formed the Speedway Trails Association (STA), filed for non-profit Federal 501 (c)(3) status and started organizing an awareness and fundraising campaign.

In 2008 we held our first awareness/fundraising event that we called the Diamond in the Rough 5K Walk/Run/Bike. For the next eight years the Diamond in the Rough 5K walk/Run/Bike event was held in various formats and locations. Once STA purchased the P&E railroad corridor in 2014 our fundraising became focused on parking cars for IMS race events.

By 2014 STA had purchased the P&E railroad corridor along Crawfordsville Rd. The Indiana Department of Natural Resource Recreational Trail, Indiana Heritage Trust grant funds, the Town of Speedway and the Lions Club helped us purchase and build the P&E Trail, completing it in 2016.

STA helped the Town of Speedway apply for and receive a Transportation Enhancement grant to build the B&O Trail. While not as simple as it sounds, the Town had to apply for additional funding. The B&O Trail in the Town of Speedway finally opened in 2018.

In the spring of 2018 the Central Indiana Community Foundation (CICF) came to STA stating they were interested in connecting the Speedway B&O to the Indy Parks trails downtown. Then Governor Holcomb announced the Next Level Trail (NLT) grant program and CICF expanded their goal to now complete the B&O Trail in Marion County. STA received a grant from Next Level Trails in 2019. Design, engineering and land acquisition took place from 2019 to 2022 and construction should begin February 2022. The grants obtained by STA will end in the Farley neighborhood.

BOTA received a NLT grant in 2021. They are in the design, engineering and acquisition phase currently. BOTA’s B&O will complete the Marion County connection from Farley to Raceway Road in 2024.