BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (WMBD) — The Constitution Trail runs around the entirety of McLean County, and the friends of said trail are planting trees to make the trail more beautiful.
“The Friends of Constitution Trail was established in 1989 as an advocacy group to promote expansion and beautification of the Constitution Trail, which at that time was just four miles in Bloomington-Normal,” said Patrick Dullard, president of the group.
Patrick is leading the effort, but doesn’t do it all alone; he gives much of the credit to the volunteers he works with every day.
“I think it’s really our organization and the volunteers that help us. I’ve just been kind of helping organize it or whatever, so I really don’t mind too much credit for it,” said Dullard.
Patrick and the group have planted over 900 trees in the last ten years, with 150 of those being put in this spring. But even after that, the work still isn’t done.
“We’re also expanding out from Bloomington-Normal with the new College Avenue Trail section that’s going to run out past Rivian,” said Bill Wasson, vice president of the group.
They hope that in the future they can expand the trail even further to connect even more of McLean County.
“There’s a railroad corridor from Bloomington, southeast toward Champaign. It ends in Mansfield, about 30 miles away. We’re actively working with the railroad and our governmental partners to find a way to get that into a trail. That’ll be my ten-year goal,” Dullard said.
The group is always looking for volunteers to help out, and anyone interested can go to their website to learn more.
WMBD TV first reported this story. You can read the original story online at CIProud.com.
