Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Miami Valley Rails Trails March 2010 Newsletter
http://www.miamivalleytrails.org/MVRT%20-March%202010.htm
Inch by inch, bike trails linking up - Cincinnati, Ohio area
Inch by inch, bike trails linking up
By Steve Kemme • • March 21, 2010
The quest to complete a five-mile bike/hike path extension from downtown
Hamilton to the Rentschler Nature Preserve in Fairfield Township has encountered
more snafus than Indiana Jones' search for the Holy Grail.
It's emblematic of bike trails throughout the region - slowly growing, slowly
but surely being linked together.
The roadblocks facing the Hamilton bike path - money and legal and bureaucratic
issues - have been formidable enough to delay the project for nearly 10 years.
But with a recent commitment from the Hamilton Community Foundation to provide
whatever money is needed to finish the extension, the project is moving forward.
Construction will begin next year. The entire extension may be finished in three
years.
It's the key missing link in the Great Miami River Recreation Trail designed to
run from Fairfield to Dayton.
"That's one of the most important pieces in our regional bike trail system,"
said Don Burrell, bicycle/pedestrian coordinator for the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana
Regional Council of Governments.
Throughout the region, bike/hike trails are being built with millions of dollars
of public and private money, linking residential areas with parks, schools and
commercial areas and, like the Great Miami River Recreation Trail, connecting
one region with another region. Some are stand-alone bike trails. Others are
part of major trails or link to major trails extending far beyond Greater
Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.
"With physical fitness, energy conservation and the green movement, there's
certainly a lot of interest in bike trails," Burrell said.
Cindy Ormsby is looking forward to the construction of the bike trail from
downtown Hamilton to Rentschler, which is close to her house. Ormsby, who works
in downtown Hamilton, often walks the existing trail during her lunch hour.
She doesn't ride her bike on the trail very often because she has to drive to
downtown Hamilton to do it.
"I think it's wonderful that they're going to build the rest of that trail,"
Ormsby said. "It'll be great to take it all the way from where I live to
Fairfield."
Gary Jones, of Hamilton, has been riding on the existing bike trail since its
first segment was built in 1989. He welcomes the chance for a longer trail.
"That'll be nice," said Jones, who's 60. "It's real relaxing to ride along the
river. Plus, the doctor says it's good for my heart."
Linking projects
Little by little, work continues to extend the popular Little Miami Scenic Trail
that recently was linked south from Loveland to Newtown and to add pieces to the
Ohio River Trail that is supposed to run from Lunken Airport to downtown
Cincinnati and to New Richmond.
With $2.4 million in federal and local funding, construction will begin in 2013
to extend the Little Miami Trail from the Little Miami Golf Center in Newtown to
Clough Pike. Linking the Little Miami and Ohio River trails by building the
segment from Clough to Beechmont Avenue and across the Little Miami River to
Kellogg Avenue won't occur for several more years, Burrell said.
Cincinnati will be building a trail from Wilmer Street at Lunken Airport to
Carrel Street this year. It will be extended to Congress Street next year.
Although a permanent trail from Lunken Airport to downtown Cincinnati is still
years away, efforts continue to build a temporary bike trail.
In the Mill Creek Valley and in Liberty and West Chester townships, efforts are
under way to have scattered trails connect.
The Ohio River Way, a nonprofit group that sponsors the annual Paddlefest, has
raised about $1.6 million of the $4 million needed to complement the $14 million
in local, state and federal funding for the Ohio River Trail.
A bike trail figures prominently in plans to transform the Mill Creek corridor.
In conjunction with cleaning up the creek and enhancing the corridor's
appearance, the non-profit Mill Creek Restoration Project wants to build a
3.4-mile bike/hike trail from Mitchell Avenue in Spring Grove Village to the
Mill Creek Road Bridge in South Cumminsville.
Last year, the group built a half-mile piece of the trail from Salway Park in
Spring Grove Village to the Dooley Bypass and Ludlow Avenue in Northside. The
rest of the 3.4-mile Queen City-South Mill Creek Greenway Trail will be built
this year and next year.
Longer-term plans envision the extension of the bike trail south to the Ohio
River and north to Butler County. The small piece of the trail that has been
built so far has generated a lot of interest from other Hamilton County
communities, said Robin Corathers, executive director of the Mill Creek
Restoration Project.
"About 13 suburban communities have called me to ask how to connect to the Mill
Creek Greenway Trail," she said. "It's pretty exciting."
Northern trails
The Miami 2 Miami Trail in Butler and Warren counties is being built in tiny
segments. This east-west trail would run 84 miles and connect with the Great
Miami, the Little Miami and the Mill Creek bike trails.
West Chester Township has created a Connections Plan that includes bike paths
and walking paths.
"We want to have a plan so that when funding opportunities come up, we can take
advantage of them," said Brian Elliff, West Chester's community development
director.
Liberty Township has been prodding developers to include bike paths and walking
paths into their projects.
"We're connecting little pieces of our trail in our southern part that will be
part of the Miami 2 Miami Trail," Liberty Township Trustee Christine Matacic
said.
Clermont County has plans for a bike/hike trail from Batavia to Williamsburg
through East Fork State Park. Last year, a segment from Williamsburg to an
overlook at Harsha Lake in the park was built. The next phase will extend the
trail to the campgrounds in the park.
That's bound to help Williamsburg's economy, Mayor Mary Ann Lefker said.
"That literally will connect us to thousands and thousands of people who camp in
the park," she said.
Northern Kentucky has a lot of enthusiasm for bike trails, but not much money so
far to build them.
Covington, Newport, Wilder and Taylor Mill are working together to create a
greenway and bike trail along the Licking River from the Ohio River to
Interstate 275.
"A lot of the land that's needed for the greenway is already owned by the
municipalities," said Pat Timm, greenway coordinator of Licking River Greenway
and Trails. "That will make it easier to get started once we get out of this
recession."
http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs...EWS01/3210331/
By Steve Kemme • • March 21, 2010
The quest to complete a five-mile bike/hike path extension from downtown
Hamilton to the Rentschler Nature Preserve in Fairfield Township has encountered
more snafus than Indiana Jones' search for the Holy Grail.
It's emblematic of bike trails throughout the region - slowly growing, slowly
but surely being linked together.
The roadblocks facing the Hamilton bike path - money and legal and bureaucratic
issues - have been formidable enough to delay the project for nearly 10 years.
But with a recent commitment from the Hamilton Community Foundation to provide
whatever money is needed to finish the extension, the project is moving forward.
Construction will begin next year. The entire extension may be finished in three
years.
It's the key missing link in the Great Miami River Recreation Trail designed to
run from Fairfield to Dayton.
"That's one of the most important pieces in our regional bike trail system,"
said Don Burrell, bicycle/pedestrian coordinator for the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana
Regional Council of Governments.
Throughout the region, bike/hike trails are being built with millions of dollars
of public and private money, linking residential areas with parks, schools and
commercial areas and, like the Great Miami River Recreation Trail, connecting
one region with another region. Some are stand-alone bike trails. Others are
part of major trails or link to major trails extending far beyond Greater
Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.
"With physical fitness, energy conservation and the green movement, there's
certainly a lot of interest in bike trails," Burrell said.
Cindy Ormsby is looking forward to the construction of the bike trail from
downtown Hamilton to Rentschler, which is close to her house. Ormsby, who works
in downtown Hamilton, often walks the existing trail during her lunch hour.
She doesn't ride her bike on the trail very often because she has to drive to
downtown Hamilton to do it.
"I think it's wonderful that they're going to build the rest of that trail,"
Ormsby said. "It'll be great to take it all the way from where I live to
Fairfield."
Gary Jones, of Hamilton, has been riding on the existing bike trail since its
first segment was built in 1989. He welcomes the chance for a longer trail.
"That'll be nice," said Jones, who's 60. "It's real relaxing to ride along the
river. Plus, the doctor says it's good for my heart."
Linking projects
Little by little, work continues to extend the popular Little Miami Scenic Trail
that recently was linked south from Loveland to Newtown and to add pieces to the
Ohio River Trail that is supposed to run from Lunken Airport to downtown
Cincinnati and to New Richmond.
With $2.4 million in federal and local funding, construction will begin in 2013
to extend the Little Miami Trail from the Little Miami Golf Center in Newtown to
Clough Pike. Linking the Little Miami and Ohio River trails by building the
segment from Clough to Beechmont Avenue and across the Little Miami River to
Kellogg Avenue won't occur for several more years, Burrell said.
Cincinnati will be building a trail from Wilmer Street at Lunken Airport to
Carrel Street this year. It will be extended to Congress Street next year.
Although a permanent trail from Lunken Airport to downtown Cincinnati is still
years away, efforts continue to build a temporary bike trail.
In the Mill Creek Valley and in Liberty and West Chester townships, efforts are
under way to have scattered trails connect.
The Ohio River Way, a nonprofit group that sponsors the annual Paddlefest, has
raised about $1.6 million of the $4 million needed to complement the $14 million
in local, state and federal funding for the Ohio River Trail.
A bike trail figures prominently in plans to transform the Mill Creek corridor.
In conjunction with cleaning up the creek and enhancing the corridor's
appearance, the non-profit Mill Creek Restoration Project wants to build a
3.4-mile bike/hike trail from Mitchell Avenue in Spring Grove Village to the
Mill Creek Road Bridge in South Cumminsville.
Last year, the group built a half-mile piece of the trail from Salway Park in
Spring Grove Village to the Dooley Bypass and Ludlow Avenue in Northside. The
rest of the 3.4-mile Queen City-South Mill Creek Greenway Trail will be built
this year and next year.
Longer-term plans envision the extension of the bike trail south to the Ohio
River and north to Butler County. The small piece of the trail that has been
built so far has generated a lot of interest from other Hamilton County
communities, said Robin Corathers, executive director of the Mill Creek
Restoration Project.
"About 13 suburban communities have called me to ask how to connect to the Mill
Creek Greenway Trail," she said. "It's pretty exciting."
Northern trails
The Miami 2 Miami Trail in Butler and Warren counties is being built in tiny
segments. This east-west trail would run 84 miles and connect with the Great
Miami, the Little Miami and the Mill Creek bike trails.
West Chester Township has created a Connections Plan that includes bike paths
and walking paths.
"We want to have a plan so that when funding opportunities come up, we can take
advantage of them," said Brian Elliff, West Chester's community development
director.
Liberty Township has been prodding developers to include bike paths and walking
paths into their projects.
"We're connecting little pieces of our trail in our southern part that will be
part of the Miami 2 Miami Trail," Liberty Township Trustee Christine Matacic
said.
Clermont County has plans for a bike/hike trail from Batavia to Williamsburg
through East Fork State Park. Last year, a segment from Williamsburg to an
overlook at Harsha Lake in the park was built. The next phase will extend the
trail to the campgrounds in the park.
That's bound to help Williamsburg's economy, Mayor Mary Ann Lefker said.
"That literally will connect us to thousands and thousands of people who camp in
the park," she said.
Northern Kentucky has a lot of enthusiasm for bike trails, but not much money so
far to build them.
Covington, Newport, Wilder and Taylor Mill are working together to create a
greenway and bike trail along the Licking River from the Ohio River to
Interstate 275.
"A lot of the land that's needed for the greenway is already owned by the
municipalities," said Pat Timm, greenway coordinator of Licking River Greenway
and Trails. "That will make it easier to get started once we get out of this
recession."
http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs...EWS01/3210331/
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Ohio River Trail Receives Grant!
On Friday, February 18, 2010 the Ohio River Trail was notified by Bikes Belong that their project has been selected to receive a $10,000 grant to help build the Ohio River Trail from Lunken to Downtown. Congratulations!
Friday, January 29, 2010
Ohio River Trail Winter Update 2009/10
A survey of the 4 mile segment of the Ohio River Trail was completed in 2009 by Hamilton County Park District and The Ohio River Way from downtown to Lunken.
The purpose of the survey is to identify the pinch points in the 50ft. wide corridor that will require retaining walls and new bridges when it is re-constructed for passenger rail and to explore where a permanent trail can be located compatible with rail.
This is an important ingredient in obtaining Federal Transportation Authority (FTA) approval for the temporary trail. In addition, The Ohio River Way will be working with the Eastern Corridor Transportation Improvement District to insure that their next round of studies include the evaluation of a permanent trail in the Oasis Corridor as a part of the multi-modal transportation plan.
The Ohio River Way Development Committee, chaired by Jan & Wym Portman made progress in 2009 toward raising the required funds to build the temporary hike/bike trail from downtown to Lunken. A total of $1.2 million of the $4 million private sector goal is committed to date.
It seems that the downtown to Lunken segment of the Ohio River Trail is the most complicated of the future Ohio to Erie Trail. To date 78% of this 320 mile trail is completed. Locally several segments are underway. The City of Cincinnati will be completing Elm Street to Broadway and Carrel to Wilmer (Lunken) in 2010 and Wilmer to Salem in 2012.
The Hamilton County Park District recently acquired several parcels to extend the Little Miami Trail from Newtown to Beechmont. Other key parcels are scheduled to be acquired in 2010.
Federal transportation funds totaling $1.9 million have been secured to assist in construction a 3.1 mile segment of the Little Miami Scenic Trail from the Little Miami Golf Center in Newtown to Beechmont Ave. The estimated cost for the project is $4.6 million with local funds to be contributed by the Hamilton County Park District and Anderson Township. The project is currently scheduled to be complete in 2013. State of Ohio capital funds totaling $1 million have been secured by the Hamilton County Park District to complete engineering and a portion of construction for a .4 mile segment of trail under Beechmont Avenue to Elstun Road. The total estimated cost of the project is $3 million. Additional funds are being sought for completing construction of the project.
The Hamilton County Park District has committed $2 million to design and construct a 1 mile trail and bridge connector between the existing loop trail at Armleder Park and the existing loop trail at Lunken Field. The project is currently scheduled to begin construction in fall 2010 and completed in 2011.
Other trail initiatives that connect with the Ohio River Trail include the Mill Creek Trail and The Licking River Greenway and Trails Initiative. Recently, Millcreek Restoration Project (MCRP) secured $500,000 from the Clean Ohio Trail Fund for the second phase of the Queen City South Mill Creek trail that will begin in 2010. The MCRP plans to complete the 3.4 mile Queen City-South Mill Creek Greenway Trail over the next two years to link the trail via the historic Miami-to-Erie Canal Corridor. Over the next five years, the MCRP plans to complete a continuous 13.5 mile Greenway Trail from the Hamilton County Fairgrounds in Carthage to the Ohio River. From the confluence with the Ohio River, the Mill Creek trail will connect 5 miles to the Central Riverfront Park and the Ohio River Trail. The Licking River Greenway and Trails initiative is an ambitious Northern Kentucky effort to create an urban greenway from the mouth of the Licking River to I-275. This trail to the south will connect to Ohio River Trail via the Newport waterfront and the Purple People Bridge.
A recreational trail connecting our region to Downtown and to the new Riverfront Park will be a great asset for Greater Cincinnati. It would not only enhance our quality of life but also be another economic development tool for recruiting companies and young professionals to our beautiful river city.
Ohio River Way will continue to advocate the vision with your help. Thank you for your support in 2009. We look forward to your continued involvement in the future.
The purpose of the survey is to identify the pinch points in the 50ft. wide corridor that will require retaining walls and new bridges when it is re-constructed for passenger rail and to explore where a permanent trail can be located compatible with rail.
This is an important ingredient in obtaining Federal Transportation Authority (FTA) approval for the temporary trail. In addition, The Ohio River Way will be working with the Eastern Corridor Transportation Improvement District to insure that their next round of studies include the evaluation of a permanent trail in the Oasis Corridor as a part of the multi-modal transportation plan.
The Ohio River Way Development Committee, chaired by Jan & Wym Portman made progress in 2009 toward raising the required funds to build the temporary hike/bike trail from downtown to Lunken. A total of $1.2 million of the $4 million private sector goal is committed to date.
It seems that the downtown to Lunken segment of the Ohio River Trail is the most complicated of the future Ohio to Erie Trail. To date 78% of this 320 mile trail is completed. Locally several segments are underway. The City of Cincinnati will be completing Elm Street to Broadway and Carrel to Wilmer (Lunken) in 2010 and Wilmer to Salem in 2012.
The Hamilton County Park District recently acquired several parcels to extend the Little Miami Trail from Newtown to Beechmont. Other key parcels are scheduled to be acquired in 2010.
Federal transportation funds totaling $1.9 million have been secured to assist in construction a 3.1 mile segment of the Little Miami Scenic Trail from the Little Miami Golf Center in Newtown to Beechmont Ave. The estimated cost for the project is $4.6 million with local funds to be contributed by the Hamilton County Park District and Anderson Township. The project is currently scheduled to be complete in 2013. State of Ohio capital funds totaling $1 million have been secured by the Hamilton County Park District to complete engineering and a portion of construction for a .4 mile segment of trail under Beechmont Avenue to Elstun Road. The total estimated cost of the project is $3 million. Additional funds are being sought for completing construction of the project.
The Hamilton County Park District has committed $2 million to design and construct a 1 mile trail and bridge connector between the existing loop trail at Armleder Park and the existing loop trail at Lunken Field. The project is currently scheduled to begin construction in fall 2010 and completed in 2011.
Other trail initiatives that connect with the Ohio River Trail include the Mill Creek Trail and The Licking River Greenway and Trails Initiative. Recently, Millcreek Restoration Project (MCRP) secured $500,000 from the Clean Ohio Trail Fund for the second phase of the Queen City South Mill Creek trail that will begin in 2010. The MCRP plans to complete the 3.4 mile Queen City-South Mill Creek Greenway Trail over the next two years to link the trail via the historic Miami-to-Erie Canal Corridor. Over the next five years, the MCRP plans to complete a continuous 13.5 mile Greenway Trail from the Hamilton County Fairgrounds in Carthage to the Ohio River. From the confluence with the Ohio River, the Mill Creek trail will connect 5 miles to the Central Riverfront Park and the Ohio River Trail. The Licking River Greenway and Trails initiative is an ambitious Northern Kentucky effort to create an urban greenway from the mouth of the Licking River to I-275. This trail to the south will connect to Ohio River Trail via the Newport waterfront and the Purple People Bridge.
A recreational trail connecting our region to Downtown and to the new Riverfront Park will be a great asset for Greater Cincinnati. It would not only enhance our quality of life but also be another economic development tool for recruiting companies and young professionals to our beautiful river city.
Ohio River Way will continue to advocate the vision with your help. Thank you for your support in 2009. We look forward to your continued involvement in the future.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Miami Valley Trails January 2010 Newsletter
http://www.miamivalleytrails.org/MVRT%20-January%202010.htm
Friday, December 18, 2009
Little Miami Scenic Trail is Trail of the Month for December
Trail of the Month: December 2009
Ohio's Little Miami Scenic Trail
Before the railroads reached Xenia, Ohio, locals had to depend on turnpikes and other back roads for travel between nearby communities. Those often unreliable routes made commerce a real slog in wet weather and icy winters. But after the Little Miami Railroad arrived in 1845, Xenia suddenly found itself fluidly connected to markets in Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton and beyond. Trains through town shuttled everything from Civil War recruits and ammunition to farm goods and faraway passengers. On a map, Xenia looked like the hub of a great bicycle wheel, with rail spokes shooting out in from almost every direction.
By 1984, the last of those tracks had fallen out of service and into silence. Yet that spider web of unused corridors left the perfect blueprint for a rail-trail revival. Over the next 25 years, with the cooperative effort of towns and counties along the route, as well as the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (DNR), rail-trail supporters built the region into a recreational powerhouse.
The north-south spoke through Xenia gradually grew into the backbone of this trail network. Opened in 1997 and now running 78 miles from Springfield southwest to the outskirts of Cincinnati, the paved Little Miami Scenic Trail is now one of the most recognizable and well-integrated rail-trails in the country. It incorporates more than a dozen communities, and like a mature vine the pathway has planted deep roots. Each stop and station along the route sprouted bicycle shops and ice cream parlors, bed-and-breakfasts and local festivals. Trail users feel cared for and catered to, treated to Midwest charm with big city ease—and the result is one highly popular pathway.
"Whether you're a novice rider or a road warrior, it's perfect," says Chrisbell Bednar, director of Greene County Parks, which manages about 14 miles of the trail surrounding Xenia. "People build vacations around this trail."
Mile 0 fittingly begins in Xenia, and you'll quickly understand the town's billing as the "Bicycle Capital of the Midwest." From the parking lot of Xenia Station, you can veer northeast to London on the Prairie Grass Trail, west to Dayton on the Creekside Trail, or directly east on the Jamestown Connector Trail. "We're real proud of the trails we have in Greene County," says Bednar. "It's kind of like our interstate recreational trails system."
Bednar says the trail has been incredibly fortunate to have sturdy political and public backing. Indeed the Little Miami Scenic Trail has thrived in no small part because of an exceptionally active coalition of supporters—folks who've been as willing to chip in financially as roll up their sleeves for maintenance.
In 2008, when Hurricane Ike pressed into Ohio, the storm snarled trees up and down the pathway. The Ohio DNR manages more than 50 miles of the trail as the Little Miami State Park, and that stretch included some of the hardest-hit areas. But the state didn't have the budget or resources to clear the pathway right away, says Alan Ferguson, assistant park manager for Ohio State Parks. Local businesses didn't want to wait and lose important customers, so they quickly organized the Friends of the Little Miami State Park and rallied volunteers almost overnight. Within a matter of days, says Ferguson, they managed to re-open the trail. "They've been just wonderful in garnering support and goodwill."
That level of volunteer dedication is hardly unusual on the Little Miami Scenic Trail. Perhaps the most vigorous contribution has come from Tom Recktenwalt, who has spent the last 12 years cataloguing Ohio's rail-trail progress from the seat of his bicycle.
Recktenwalt remembers searching in vain for some online information about the Creekside Trail in the 1990s. Not finding any, he decided to produce his own. Recktenwalt bought two bikes, a pair of helmets and a bike rack and started touring local pathways with his wife. He has since volunteered countless hours exploring trails in southwest Ohio, taking meticulous notes and more than 6,000 photos along the way. You can find all of Recktenwalt's play-by-play trail accounts on his website, Miami Valley RailTrails, which he has maintained since 1997.
What attracts such committed supporters, of course, is precisely what draws visitors from all over the state and country. In the course of 78 miles, trail users get to cruise a continuous, well-maintained, largely shaded and cool route—including a gradual downhill grade heading south from Springfield. They get to enjoy the Little Miami National Scenic River, as well. as protected wildlife areas and an Ohio countryside of grassy pastures, wildflowers, farmsteads, soybean and corn fields. They get to explore quaint downtowns, sample trailside ice cream parlors or stock up within feet of the pathway.
There's a little of everything, really, and what you get from the trail could change with every visit. So whether you're into birding or biking, ambling or antiquing, the Little Miami Scenic Trail has a way of feeling tailor-made just for you.
For more information, photos and user reviews of the trail, or to post your own comments, please visit TrailLink.com.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Check out Cincinnati's Bicycling Report Card
http://www.soapboxmedia.com/devnews/1201bicyclingreportcard.aspx?utm_campaign=Cityview&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=VerticalResponse&utm_term=City%20gets%20a%20%22C%22%20on%20first-ever%20Bicycling%20Report%20Card%20but%20real%20opportunity%20exists%20for%20improvement
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
