Shenango Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization has granted the Mercer County Trails Association $229,000 to help build the Trout Island Trail.

The money allows PennDOT to accept bids for the project, and work could be completed this year, said Matthew Stewart, senior planner for the Mercer County Regional Planning Commission.

PennDOT should advertise for bids in the next few weeks, said Edward Winslow of Winslow Engineering Inc., Hermitage, which handled design of the project.

Plans for the trail, which have been about 10 years in the making, were bogged down in setting the path and getting rights-of-way from property owners, most notably the Army Corps of Engineers, which owns most of the land.

“The administrative work is done,” Winslow said.

PennDOT recently estimated the work would cost $409,000, more than the $180,000 the association has from a PennDOT construction grant. The association asked the MPO for a share of its discretionary funds set aside for urban areas, and the MPO approved the allocation in a telephone ballot June 22, Stewart said.

“Hopefully, this will cover it,” Stewart said of construction. “PennDOT wanted to make sure the trail association had the money before it went to bid.”

The association wants to build an eight-foot-wide, paved trail from Mercer Avenue in Sharpsville to Orangeville along the abandoned Pennsylvania Railroad and Erie Railroad lines.

The first phase, which is subject to the upcoming bid process, will start in Sharpsville, curve along the south side of the Shenango River past the Shenango River Lake dam in Hermitage, and then run along Trout Island Road into South Pymatuning Township and to the lake, across from the Shenango Recreation Area. This segment will measure 2è miles.

In a subsequent phase or phases — all contingent on getting funding — the trail would head northwest along the lake to Ohio, and also could extend to Transfer and Greenville.

The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources also awarded the association a $103,000 grant, from which Winslow was paid for design.

If all goes as hoped, construction on the first phase could finish this year, although there is a chance it will carry over into next year, Stewart said.

Information: www.mctrails.org