Somerset County will try again for hiking trail project

Somerset County will take another swing at developing a section of hiking trail at Somerset Lake this summer.

Somerset County commissioners — at the project engineer’s recommendation — rejected four bids to carve out a half-mile of trail alongside the lake, because each of them exceeded the project’s budget, Somerset County Trail Coordinator Lindsay Pyle said.

The county has set aside $130,000 for the project, but bids arrived as high as $230,000, she said.

Trail officials met with Somerset-based Earthtech, the project’s engineering firm, and settled on a few areas where they can cut project costs without shortening the first segment of trail development, Pyle said.

“We’re going to adjust the amount of materials and the type of drainage — things like that,” she said. “Hopefully, it’ll get us within (budget).”

Pyle said it’s not yet certain when bids will be advertised again.

But she’s hopeful that a winning bid will be found in time to get the work underway during this year’s construction season.

Work will initially focus on the eastern side of the lake, she said.

In that area, the trail would wind its way along Gilmore Road and end at Wood Duck Road, Pyle said.

Fundraising efforts are ongoing to acquire enough financial support to complete the trail, which would run a loop around Somerset Lake.