In 1976, the Northeastern Indiana Regional Coordinating Council created a Regional Bikeway Plan that proposed routes stretching north of Fort Wayne through DeKalb County, into Steuben County, and south through Bluffton to Ouabache State Park—remarkably similar to the path we’re working toward today. What started as lines on a planning map decades ago is becoming a real connection for our communities.

Interest in bike and pedestrian infrastructure surged again in 1991 with the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA), which introduced dedicated funding for trails and bike-ped projects across the country. In the early 2000s, local advocates began encouraging officials to include trails as part of roadway design, not just scenic recreation. It marked an important shift toward building trails that connect communities and serve as real transportation routes.

Between 2000 and 2010, public support for active transportation—walking, biking, and connected trails—grew rapidly across northeast Indiana.

In 2005, thanks to continued efforts from local trail advocates, the NIRCC 2030 Transportation Plan introduced the region’s first comprehensive bicycle and pedestrian plan. For the first time, the Poka-Bache Connector corridor appeared as a proposed trail in Allen County—an important step in turning a long-standing vision into a real regional connection.

In 2005, the City of Fort Wayne took a major step forward by hiring a Greenways Manager, helping lead a more coordinated effort to expand trail connections. Working alongside NIRCC and local trail advocates, the region began embracing a regional approach to trail connectivity. Communities weren’t just building trails for recreation anymore—they were building them to connect people and places.

In 2006, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Division of Outdoor Recreation named the four-county Upstate Indiana Trail—now known as the Poka-Bache Connector—an inaugural Visionary Trail in the state’s first trail plan, Hoosiers on the Move: Indiana State Trails, Greenways & Bikeways Plan. The plan followed the same four-county route we’re working toward today—from Ouabache State Park to Pokagon State Park—and the corridor has continued to be recognized as a priority visionary trail in later state plans.

With a 2006 Transportation Enhancement (TE) grant, Bluffton began work on the Interurban Trail, a section of the Poka-Bache Connector running from the Wabash River pedestrian bridge to Monroe Street along State Road 1.

In Steuben County, a 2007 feasibility study explored trail connections to Pokagon State Park, helping guide future development. The City of Angola then began building its trail network.

In DeKalb County, Auburn secured a 2009 Transportation Enhancement (TE) grant to build a trail segment along the former rail alignment from North Street to the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum.

The City of Angola opened its first segment of the trail in 2010, with additional phases completed in 2016 and 2019.

Auburn’s trail segment along the former rail alignment from North Street to the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum was completed in 2011. Step by step, communities were building the pieces of a much bigger connection.

In 2016, the Upstate Indiana Trail was officially renamed the Poka-Bache Connector, reflecting the growing effort to connect our communities and state parks. Around the same time, the Northeastern Indiana Regional Coordinating Council (NIRCC) launched United Trails in 2017 to help guide regional trail planning and development.

Bluffton’s Interurban Trail is completed in 2016, creating another important link in the corridor. Across all four counties, communities have pursued state trail and transportation funding to build these connections.

In 2023, the 11 jurisdictions along the Poka-Bache Connector corridor signed an interlocal agreement to form a regional task force dedicated to completing the trail. Working alongside them is a strong coalition of private-sector partners—including Fort Wayne Trails, Steuben County Trails, DeKalb County Trails, Community Foundation DeKalb County, and Wells County Trails—all collaborating to move the project forward. Together, these partners are prioritizing trail planning and construction to support health and wellness, economic development, tourism, and access to the natural environment across northeast Indiana.

Trail Crossing Washington Center Road is completed. This segment of the Pufferbelly Trail is designed to tie directly or indirectly (via sidewalks) to hundreds of businesses and many residential areas along the Washington Center Road corridor, the Lima Road Corridor, the Coliseum Boulevard corridor and the Coldwater Road/Clinton Street Corridor.

Fort Wayne City Council approves plans for the Pufferbelly Trail Pedestrian Bridge, also referred to as the Vann Family Crossing that will be constructed across Coliseum Boulevard. The bridge will carry the Pufferbelly Trail over the roadway. Construction of the bridge is expected to start in the fall of 2026 and finish end of 2027.