by Kate Shunney
Morgan County Commissioners last Wednesday approved a contract with an engineering company to prepare a Feasibility Study for a proposed “Cacapon Ridge Trail.” That envisioned trail could connect Cacapon State Park’s north end terminus to the downtown Berkeley Springs area, aiming to bring mountain bikers all the way into town.
Commissioners completed a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) process, looking for a firm that was qualified to do the trail planning and engineering.
They selected CEC – Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc. – of Martinsburg to take on the feasibility work and come up with the preliminary design.
County officials said CEC is already working at Cacapon State Park on their mountain bike trail network expansion.
Morgan County received a $162,000 grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission to explore the creation of the new trail and has earmarked $82,000 in match dollars for the project.
CEC will investigate a route for the trail from Cacapon State Park into town, speak with landowners along a potential route and seek public and stakeholder input about its feasibility and design, said commissioners.
Commissioner Bill Clark has been a force behind the trail concept. He said CEC will also give the county a stream and wetland delineation as part of their contract, which will help in getting future funding to build a possible trail.
In the county’s original grant application, it said, “This trail would act as a critical spine in Morgan County, WV that would connect several key tourist destinations in the region with the goal of linking up to the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park in the future.”
