New pedestrian path constructed at Lake Charleston

CHARLESTON, Ill. (AP) - A new path designed to make pedestrian traffic safer has been added to Lake Charleston in Coles County.

The new path begins at the Alex Russell Memorial Pier and runs west around the lake before crossing a new bridge. The project took roughly a year to complete, included adding about 500 feet of stones used to prevent erosion.

The (Mattoon) Journal-Gazette and (Charleston) Times-Courier report (https://bit.ly/1rPmvFv) the project was made possible through a $50,000 Illinois Environmental Protection Agency grant. Volunteers completed much of the work of constructing the trails by clearing the path and removing branches and leaves.

Watershed Project Coordinator Alan Alford says there’d been talk of installing trails for decades.

The lake is about a mile south of Charleston and features a fishing pier, boating and pavilions.

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Information from: Mattoon Journal-Gazette, https://www.jg-tc.com