LISBON, Ohio (WKBN) — The Columbiana County Parks District has been trying to extend the Greenway Trail to the Ohio River. It’s part of a multi-county project that would go up to Lake Erie.

A small line of flags marks the path along the North side of route 154, outside of Lisbon. It might not look like much now, but this area will soon become part of the Greenway Trail.

Federal grant money from the Transportation Alternative Projects worth over a million dollars will help start the project.

Elieen Dray-Bardon, chairperson of Columbiana County Park District, spoke to First News about the project.

“They would be going through there, tearing all that undergrowth and all that out to make a clear path so they can begin to level it and get it to the point where it can be paved,” Dray-Bardon said.

The connector between the current start of the Greenway Trail and the new extension will be downtown Lisbon. The extension would be about a mile long, going from the village to the park and riding off Route 11.

“There will be no actual changes, physically in the village, but there will be signage and markings where you go through the village on a bike route,” Dray-Bardon said.

The construction company involved told the parks district that traffic interruption will be minimal. Any private driveway owners have been notified.

This will help make a dent in the long-term project of connecting trails from Lake Erie to the Ohio River.

“There’s been talk about all the way out to Elkton and out that way. Some talk about going somewhere close to route 11, we just don’t know what that route is going to be,” Dray-Bardon said.

Right now, co-chair Tom Butch says the trail from Lisbon to the Ohio River is the largest gap on this four-county project.

“But it’s a big step for us. It’s the first step, in that project to get our trail complete from Lisbon to the Ohio River,” Butch said.

He said it’s hard to tell how the new extension will affect Lisbon.

“It’s going to bring some more people into town, I believe. People staying in the motels, some of them might be using it to walk into town or ride their bicycles into town,” Butch said.

As of now, the project is slated to be complete by Sept. 30.