Long-distance bike route between NW Indiana, Indianapolis could join group of routes across the state

A new long-distance bicycle route between Northwest Indiana and the Indianapolis area could soon join a group of bike routes across Indiana.

Don’t look yet for signs marking the routes, however.

The Indiana Department of Transportation plans to seek official designation for United States Bicycle Route 37, a 182-mile route from Griffith to Carmel, just outside Indianapolis.

The northern end of USBR 37 would be the place where the Erie Lackawanna Trail crosses the Oak Savannah Trail in Griffith.

INDOT asked last year for public feedback on the proposed route.

As a result of comments then, the route was altered in West Lafayette, White County and Jasper County to improve safety for riders.

INDOT does not incur a cost for implementing the bike route, because it doesn’t have to put up signs marking the route

It does, however, plan to look into the benefits and costs of route signs.

INDOT notes that USBR 37 is for “experienced, long-distance bicycle riders … who are comfortable riding on most types of facilities, including roads without special treatments for bicyclists. This group also consists of utilitarian and recreational riders who are confident enough to ride on busy roadways and navigate in vehicular traffic.”

Parts of some USBRs use bike trails, but most of the miles are along roads and streets.

The effort to designate USBR 37, as with other long-distance bike routes, was led by the Adventure Cycling Association, based in Missoula, Montana.

ACA suggested a route made up of city streets, trails, county roads, state roads and U.S. highways, and INDOT said it received letters of support from the jurisdictions that the route goes through.

If approved by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), USBR 37 would join four other officially designated long-distance routes running about 700 miles across Indiana.

AASHTO is the same organization that coordinates the numbering of interstate highways and U.S. routes.

There are over 18,900 miles of USBR routes in 34 states.

“They’re trying to mimic our interstate (highway) system,” said Mitch Barloga, transportation planning manager and active transportation planner for the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission. “The more of these we have, the better for all of us.”

In Indiana, USBR 36 runs through Northwest Indiana from Illinois to Michigan. It uses the Erie Lackawanna Trail and the Oak Savannah Trail in Lake County and the Prairie Duneland Trail in Porter County, along with local roads and U.S. 12.

USBR 35 is a nearly 381-mile route through Indiana, from the Michigan border in LaPorte County to the Ohio River in Jeffersonville.

Two other routes, USBR 235 and USBR 50, go through central Indiana.

Tim Zorn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.