By VICKI URBANIK

When and if the bids are let Tuesday for the renovation of the Calumet Bicycle Trail, the contractor ultimately chosen will come under a much more careful watch than usual.

After all, hanging in the balance is the fate of the vibrant cardinal flower, the carniverous round-leafed sundew, and nearly 10 rare and endangered plants, at least one of which is not found anywhere else in Indiana.

In the works for more than a decade, the planned renovation of the 9.1-mile Calumet Bicycle Trail may finally get underway this winter, with a bid letting scheduled for Tuesday by the Indiana Department of Transportation, which is administering a $1.2 million federal grant awarded for the renovation.

The project is being closely watched by a coalition of environmentalists, county officials, and the Northern Indiana Public Service Co., which owns the right-of-way on which the trail runs in north Porter County.

As Charlotte Read, assistant director of the Save the Dunes Council, put it, INDOT and most road building contractors aren’t used to dealing with such a diverse array of important plant life.

“It is a challenge, and it’s a challenge because of the special values there,” she said. “This is not the usual project.”

Last week, Porter County Park Superintendent Ed Melendez reported that the bid letting might get postponed, due to concerns over the bid specifications. County Highway Engineer Dave Schelling said the concerns deal with ensuring that the specs are clearly written so that the contractors interested in the project know just what will be expected.

“We don’t want a contractor to bid on something and then after being awarded the bid say, ‘you can’t do that’,” he said.

For example, Schelling said the bid specs will require the hiring of a botanist to supervise the work. He also said fencing or some other marking will be required to restrict the work zone.

“This is all workable, but the contractor needs to know this before he puts his price on paper,” Schelling said.

Larry Graham, spokesperson for NIPSCO, said NIPSCO raised concerns that some of the agreements worked out earlier to protect the plant life weren’t included in the final specifications.

As it stands now, the trail project is still scheduled for a bid letting next week.

Local botanist Barbara Plampin, who along with Sandy O’Brien conducted an inventory along the trail, said it’s possible for the trail to be resurfaced without damaging the plant life.

“It all depends on how close the supervision is and how careful the trail is constructed,” she said.

Plampin just recently discovered two new plants along the trail. One is the Marsh Club Moss, a state-endangered plant before which was not known to exist in Porter County. She is in the process of identifying the other, a violet that may be state-threatened.

Her latest discovery puts the number of known state-endangered plant species along the trail at four, and the number of rare or threatened plants at four or five. Endangered plants are those known to exist at only one to five sites in the state.

In addition, the trail is home to merrybells, a plant classified as disjunct, meaning that it’s abundant elsewhere but not in Indiana. The trail is also home to four other plants classified by Dr. Gereold Wilhelm as “special vegetation,” which are species rare in the National Lakeshore.

Plampin said of the latter category, the most interesting plant might be the round-leafed sundew, which eats flies. The most unique plant along the trail is scirpus expansus, a bullrush that exists no place else in the state.

Plampin said the trail also consists of showy native wildflowers that people come out to see every year. They include the fringed gentian; the cardinal wildflower, which she said is the reddest plant in North America; and the nodding ladies dress orchid.

She added that many of the special plants live along the trail’s edge, so the greatest risk may come not from the resurfacing, but from the trucks and other equipment used in the project.

On the other hand, she pointed out that heavy equipment makes ruts in the ground and that some plants like disturbed soils and take advantage of the water that emerges.

Plampin expressed hope that a ribbon of spagnum moss that runs intermittedly along the trail could save the trail from construction damage. The moss, she said, is loaded with plants that could disperse seed, replacing those that might be lost.

She also said the trail plan needs to be redesigned in some areas, so that the new trail extends a bit more north to avoid interfering with the abundance of plants on the south side.

Plampin also said that the trail project could, in some areas, actually improve the state of the plant life. She said the project should include removing the invasive purple loosestrife and a wild box grapevine that’s choking out good plants. Some areas could be reseeded and restored, she said.

“With care, a good job can be done,” she said.

Schelling said in most paving projects, crews aren’t restricted in how far they can take their equipment. “We don’t want that on this project,” he said.

He credited INDOT for committing to seek input on the project from local environmentalists and officials from the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, the Department of Natural Resources, and the county. He said such cooperative effort will open the lines of communication and result in a better project.

In the event that Tuesday’s bid letting is postponed, Schelling said the letting likely wouldn’t take place until February or March, pushing back the work to the summer.

He said he would prefer that the project go on without delay. He said with a 55-day work day schedule, the resurfacing could be completed this winter.

Read agreed it would be ecologically better to do the work in the winter, since plants have already seeded.

Schelling was among the officials who recently attended a meeting at the trail to discuss the bid specifications. He said he is optimistic that the concerns have been resolved.

“I feel good about the project. I think it’s going to happen,” he said.

The project calls for laying a crushed stone surface over the existing trail, creating an 8-foot wide trail beginning at Mineral Springs Road. In addition to the $1.2 million federal grant, the project is being funded through a $300,000 Build Indiana grant and a $25,000 contribution from NIPSCO.

Posted 10/12/2001