Study: Mounds Greenway would bring $13M in annual benefits

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – An environmental group that’s fought a proposed central Indiana reservoir says a study it commissioned shows its rival idea of a 17-mile trail system would generate about $13 million in annual benefits if it’s built.

Hoosier Environmental Council senior policy director Tim Maloney says the Mounds Greenway would bring tourism, environmental, transportation and public health benefits.

The project estimated to cost $15 million to $40 million would link several communities and parks with hiking or biking trails near the White River.

The trail proposal is a response to a proposed $450 million reservoir that would be created by damming the White River in Anderson to create a 2,100-acre lake in Madison and Delaware counties.

Reservoir project leader Rob Sparks says that proposal is still in the study stages.