PV Greenway Trail honored with award

ANDOVER – The Pymatuning Valley Greenway Trail began taking shape nearly two decades ago, but its planning and construction began in recent years.
Now that Ashtabula County Metroparks has completed the first two phases of construction and opened it to the public, the trail is garnering national attention.
The Pymatuning Valley Greenway Trail will be recognized by the National Association of County Park and Recreation Officials (NACPRO) with an award in the Trails & Corridors – Class 1 category.
“It’s exciting,” Brett Bellas, executive director of Ashtabula County Metroparks, said. “We’re such a small staff and doing such big projects, our passion and dedication shows when we’re bringing in awards on the national level. We’re bringing in grants, putting in these trails and moving along very fast. It’s just amazing. I’m very surprised (by the award) and I’m proud of the staff.”
The annual NACPRO Awards program recognizes and honors excellence in parks and recreation at the county, regional and special district level. The 2026 presentation of awards will be held on Wednesday, May 20, in Sarasota, Fla., during NACPRO’s annual meeting.
“I’d like to thank the Ashtabula County Metroparks Board for their support and the staff for working so hard and its passion for the county park system because that’s what’s allowed us to accomplish this project,” Bellas said.
The Awards presented by NACPRO include – Outstanding Public Official; lifetime, fellow and new professionals in the individual category; Outstanding Contributor, Outstanding Volunteer and Outstanding Support Organization in the Friends of Parks and Recreation category; Natural Parks and Facilities, Developed Recreation Parks and Facilities and Trails and Corridors in the area and facilities category; and a Program Award to recognize a member agency with a unique or exceptional program, activity or event.
Special Awards presented include Community Impact; Conservation; Cultural History; Innovative Financing; Marketing; Planning Initiative; and Universal Accessibility.
Ashtabula County Metroparks oversees the Western Reserve Greenway Trails, Pymatuning Valley Greenway Trail, 14 parks and more than 75 miles of trails.
“We’ve put in a lot of hard work,” Bellas said. “It’s satisfying work. We’re a staff of four, but it’s coming along. We have to take baby steps in order to grow. We’re a small staff, but we’re doing projects that are competing nationally. That has to do with the staff’s passion and dedication to doing projects to beautify Ashtabula County.”
The completed portion of the Pymatuning Valley Greenway Trails runs from State Route 193 in Denmark Township to Marvin Road southeast of Andover.
“What’s amazing about what is done right now is you can see slices of the entire county,” Bellas said. “One minute you’re walking or biking through with a cornfield on one side and a soybean field on the other. You’re hitting the agriculture, then you go a little further and you’re under a forest canopy where you see different trees and different water sources. You get to see all aspects of wildlife and forestry.”
The completed portion of the Pymatuning Valley Greenway Trail is already drawing visitors from far and wide.
“One thing we’re noticing is we’re pulling in a lot of people who want to bike the trail from outside the area,” Bellas said. “We have a group of ladies who come from an hour away in Pennsylvania to bike the trail every week.”
Phase 3 of construction will take the trail from Marvin Road to Slater Road and Phase 4 will go from Marvin Road to the state line.
Currently, 5.2 miles of the trail is completed and when it is finished, the trail will cover 13.5 miles from Route 193 to the state line.
Phases 3 and 4 of the trail’s construction are both currently in design, which should be completed in October. Construction will begin in the winter and the trail should be open sometime in 2027.
The property for the trail was acquired in the early 2000s.
“It wasn’t until we passed that first levy that things got rolling,” Bellas said. “It’s only in the last four or five years that the trail got designed, funded and constructed. It seems like a long time (from the very beginning), but for trails, it’s been very short when you consider the design, construction and funding.”
On average, it’s estimated that the project costs $1 million per mile.
“We have been fortunate to get grant funding to cover the entire thing,” Bellas said. “We’ve been able to leverage our money so that it really didn’t cost anything from (the Ashtabula County Metroparks) budget. What our money did was allow us to show we could cover our share. Hopefully, we’ll continue to be successful pulling in all of the funding we need.”
The Ashtabula County Metroparks levy is 0.5 mills and collects $12 for $100,000 of appraised property value.
“We’re able to take that money and put it toward our share to acquire grants,” Bellas said. “When we get a grant, we try to piggyback it with more grants so our share is covered by another funding source.”
The goal is to connect State Route 193 with Pittsburgh via the trail.
“With Pennsylvania seeing that we’re moving so fast, we hope they will get their side moving,” Bellas said. “Progress is being made, but things are set up differently in Pennsylvania, so there’s a little more work for them to do.”