Miami Valley RailTrails Newsletter December 2008

Miami Valley RailTrails Newsletter
December 2008

It’s Sunday 14 December and I have lots of trail news for you. Read On Below.

Trail Construction and Improvements.	Website Changes and Improvements
Photos & Information Wanted Section	Did You Know Department
Announcements of Upcoming Cycling Events	Webpage of the Month

Trail Construction and Improvements

Xenia – Jamestown Connector Construction – One of “My Spies” told me that the trail had been paved from Jasper Road (current Western terminus) to Hoop Road (about ½ mile). If you look at this Yahoo Map page you can see the old railbed as a line of trees running Southwest from Jasper Road to Hoop Road. Although the trail can be ridden, it is not a part of Greene County Parks trail system until it is upgraded to the standard required for trails by the standard.
The Xenia-Jamestown Connector will be finished by building a 400’ tunnel under US-35 and running the trail Northwest behind Home Road (US-68) into downtown Xenia in 2011. A part of the construction was (Past Tense - see below) to build a bridge over S. Detroit Street (US-68) where you can see in this Yahoo Map Xenia Station is to the left of the picture and the Prairie Grass Trail (AKA Ohio To Erie Trail) starting just East of S. Detroit Street. The bicycle bridge will be exactly where the old railroad bridge once stood. Both trails will cross the street and then the Xenia-Jamestown Connector will swing South to run parallel and East of Home Road.
Past Tense After I wrote the above I talked to Greene County Parks Department and found out that because of cost increases the bridge over S. Detroit Street is not in the current plans. I will investigate this and get back to you with what is going on and what we can do about it if it is true.
Little Miami Scenic Trail Now Open – I was told on 6 December that the trail repairs on the Little Miami Scenic Trail had been accomplished by a contractor for ODNR (Ohio Department of Natural Resources) who manage the 50 miles of trail that are in the Little Miami Scenic Park. It’s a bit late for riding this year, but the Trail Is Open! As is usual in such cases I confirmed that my information was correct and then sent out an email to all of my readers to inform them that the trail had been reopened.

Here is what Mr. Alan Ferguson; the manager of the park had to say:

“The trail is opened now. I feel that the repairs went well. I know that the contractor took the time to saw-cut and add a concrete approach to smooth out the bump at the plate on the south end of the Richland Rd. bridge. Our guys were out today trying to repair some of the planking issues and to smooth out the approach at the north end. We are still looking at surfacing ideas. At any rate, I think we're ready for the weekend.
Thanks,
Alan Ferguson”
More Trails in the Miami Valley? – I would have to say here; “Who Knew?” You will read (below) about the new trail maps built by Mike Monett in Google Earth. When he first showed me his Google Earth Maps in draft, there were trails that I was unaware of. For example:
- Main Street - Pinnacle Road Bike Path - It's in Moraine and runs from the Great Miami River Recreation Trail to Deer Meadow Park (formerly Pinnacle Park) 2.3 miles). I was unaware that this trail existed.
- Towler Road Spur on Creekside Trail – It runs West from Sol Arnowitz Park about 0.5 mile to West Side Park - I was also unaware about this trail spur built by the City of Xenia. I understand that there is about a 500’ gap (gravel not paving) in the trail that is due to be paved in 2009
- Xenia-Jamestown Connector Grows – An additional .5 mile of trail was paved by the City of Xenia this Fall 2008 (see article above for more information)
I have put a "Place Holder" ( a small amount of information about the new trail) on the affected webpage. When the weather gets better next Spring, I'll get photos of all three bike developments for your reading (and viewing) pleasure.

New Trails Signage – Last month I told you that the first of the new standard trail signs was erected by the Miami Conservancy District on the Great Miami River Recreation Trail. I learned recently that Greene County Parks District has erected 16 of the new signs. Five of them are at Xenia Station and will help our out of town guests find the trail they want when leaving the Station. Thanks Greene County! (See below for last month's information and picture of typical sign.)

New Trail Signage – As I told all of you some time ago, the Miami Conservancy District (MCD) had received a grant for new trail signs in the Miami Valley. Eventually you’ll be seeing the same signs in Miami, Greene & Montgomery counties. They'll be erected by the parks departments of each county. Here is one of the first of the new signs that MCD erected on the Great Miami River Recreation Trail in West Carrollton.
(Source: November 2008 newsletter)

Click of Photo for Larger Image
Source: Miami Conservancy District

Huffman MetroPark to Eastwood MetroPark Trail - (New Timetable) - I was informed that there are new dates for the construction of the much awaited trail through the City of Riverside from the Huffman MetroPark to Eastwood MetroPark. When built it will connect the

Wright Brothers Bikeway that runs along Kaufmann Avenue from Huffman MetroPark to the City of Fairborn to
Mad River Recreation Trail - that runs East from downtown Dayton to Eastwood MetroPark.
Creekside Recreation Trail - runs East from Eastwood MetroPark to Xenia Station

The new trail will be constructed from Huffman MetroPark along Springfield Street, go past the National Museum of the United States Air Force, turn right just past Riverside's Center of Flight, go under the Norfolk & Southern tracks and enter Eastwood MetroPark by going under the Harshman Road bridge over the Mad River. An alternative name for this trail is the Mad River Recreation Trail Extension. The new timetable is as follows:

New Timetable for Huffman Dam to Eastwood MetroPark

Event	Fiscal Year	Date Occurrence
Environmental Document Approved	2009	06/30/2009
Final R/W Plans Submitted	2010	07/13/2009
Stage 2 Plans - Submitted	2010	07/13/2009
Stage 2 Plans - Complete	2010	07/27/2009
Local Let PS&E Package to District	2011	07/05/2010
District R/W Certification	2011	07/12/2010
Plan Package Received in C.O.	2011	07/19/2010
Sale	2011	09/02/2010
Contract Award	2011	10/01/2010

If you understand anything from the table above; Good! If not, the important date is 01 October 2010. That is the planned date that the construction will go to a contractor. My guess is that construction will start in 2010 and finish sometime in 2011 for your cycling pleasure.

Website Changes and Improvements

Google Earth maps of the entire Miami Valley Trails System – A very helpful reader, Mr. Mike Monett, spent a lot of time building the entire trails system into Goggle Earth. Click Here (or above) to see his webpage about the trails system. You will need to download and installed the free Google Earth software to take advantage of these new maps with links to my website. Mike’s downloadable file will enable you to see all of the trails in the system. Because he has marked the trails in planning in red you can see where our trail system will expand in the future. On the maps those places marked with a “P” have more information, including some “Bird’s Eye” views and links to the webpage on my website that has the detailed information to go along with Mike’s efforts. Mike says: "Keep watching. I am improving the map system all of the time and you can expect additional features." Also, if you see something on the maps that doesn't look right please let me know and I'll forward your concerns to Mike so we can make changes and remove mistakes.
Updated Ohio Trails List - I updated my Alphabetical list of trails in Ohio and also the:
Ohio Trails List (alphabetically by county with maps)
Once or twice a year, I completely review all of my links to the other trails in Ohio. I make the changes first on the alphabetical list of trails. Then I go back and take the same changes and update each of the pages that show a map of a portion of Ohio with several counties on it and the trails that are in those counties below on the page. So if you have the name of the trail go to the: Rail Trails, Towpaths And Other Trails In Ohio page and look it up. On the other hand, if you want to search by region or by county within region go to: Rail Trails ,Towpaths And Other Trails In Ohio (Indexed by County) That page shows a map of Ohio. You pick the region and you are taken to a map of that region. The county names on these pages are "hot". Click on the county name, and if there is a trail (that I know about in the county) the bookmark will take you down the page to the county. I have pages as follows:

I go to all this effort so that you can find other trails in Ohio and so our guests from out of town can find the trails they want to ride (or otherwise use) PLEASE NOTE! If you see something wrong in this area, while you are using it, PLEASE; let me be the first to know. I try to keep this website as accurate as possible and sometimes I get some great help from my readers; like YOU!

Additional Webpage Updates- Because of the new trails or spurs that I found out about recently, I have had to update a number of webpages on this website
- Miami Valley Trails - This page was updated by adding 1/2 mile to the Xenia-Jamestown Connector .
- Creekside Trail - 5 mile added for the Towler Road Spur
- Spur from Great Miami River Recreation Trail - (Moraine) 2.3 miles added to Main Street – Pinnacle Road Bike Path in Moraine
- Trails Maps page - updated – I added information about Mike Monett’s Goggle Earth maps

Photos & Information Wanted Department

Buck Creek Trail - The Sherman Avenue Bridge on the Buck Creek Trail in Springfield – This is the new bridge that has a bicycle lane on it to take the trail from the South side of Buck Creek to the North side. Any photos provided by my faithful users, will be credited with their name.

Did you Know Department?

Friends of the Little Miami Scenic Park - The "Friends" had their first meeting at Caesar’s Creek State Park Sunday 16 November 2008. Over 80 interested persons attended the kickoff meeting. They are setting up a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) corporation to aid the Little Miami Scenic Park, a part of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, secure more assets to keep the Little Miami Scenic Trail in better repair. At the first meeting, interim officers were elected and the general course of the next few months activities were decided. We will be hearing more from this worthwhile organization that plans to help the Little Miami Scenic Trail be one of the best multi-use trails in Ohio. Click on the title above or Click Here to be taken to their website for more information.
"A Greener Commute" - I read this in the 23 November 2008 issue of Parade Magazine and I am reprinting it here for those of you who missed it.

Congressional “Bicycle Caucus” get funding for trails. [Parade Magazine 11/23/08] “Rep Earl Blumenauer (D Ore) leads the Congressional Bicycle Caucus, a bipartisan group that helped secure $4.5 billion in funding for bike and pedestrian initiatives.

Why care about cycling now?
Right now, the U.S. consumes about 10% of the world’s oil supply just to get back and forth to work. If we are able to reintroduce the bicycle into our communities, we are going to make it easier for people to break our addiction to oil. I have cycled to work in Washington, D.C. for 12 years. I’ve burned over 300,000 calories and saved $94,000 in car costs, 206 gallons of fuel and 4800 pounds of carbon dioxide.

Your City -Portland Oregon - is very bike friendly. What has worked?
We have expanded the number of bike lanes, established bike routes throughout the city, and turned major streets into "bike boulevards" so there is less through traffic. It's making a huge difference. People use their cars much less than the American average. That translates into saving of more that $2500 per year per family. There should be a bicycle master plan for cities large and small.

How do you balance the competing demands of cyclists who want more lanes and drives who worry about congestion?
It's not about competition. Cycling actually helps improve traffic flow on roads. If all of the thousands of people who bike every day in Portland were to get back in their cars, we would have more traffic congestion and more frayed nerves. Cycling helps with parking too -- you can fit a dozen bikes in the space one car would take.

It would be wonderful if Dayton and the Miami Valley were to have the vision of the Portland area. The good people at the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission are working with Alta Planning + Design to build a Miami Valley Regional Bikeway Plan that will allow for more recreation and transportation on our wonderful "and growing" "Miami Valley Trails System".

MSN Groups to Migrate to "Multiply" - Some years ago I had an automatic (free) mailing list that I used to send emails out to my members. That software went away so in 2001, I started a Miami Valley RailTrails Group at MSN. This is where many of you joined my mailing list and bulletin board. For the last seven years I have posted every monthly newsletter and all announcements of interest on MSN. During that time, some of my members did not want to get a "Passport" (what Microsoft called a password). So I started an email address list on my PC for those people. When I publish my monthly newsletter I send two copies out to my MSN members (I use two because some members read my newsletters on the MSN website and some want them send to their email address) Then I send out the newsletter to the mailing list on my PC.
In February 2009 the MSN websites will go away and be replaced by a Microsoft product called "Multiply". I will be migrating to Multiply later this month or early in January 2009. I am telling all of you this now so that in January 2009, if you don't get your newsletter about the 15th. of the month (the usual time), you can email me and ask to be placed on my PC based mailing list. Please don't email me now. Please wait until you get (or don't get) your January 2009 newsletter. If it doesn't arrive by about the 20th. of January, write me and I'll work it out.

Announcements of Upcoming Events

See Upcoming Events Area

Nothing new this month

Webpage of the Month

Stillwater River Recreation Trail - This month's trail is the Stillwater River Recreation Trail.
- Stillwater River Recreation Trail (South) - (3.8 miles) This trail in two trail segments runs North from Island MetroPark in downtown Dayton along the Stillwater River. From downtown it runs alongside Siebenthaler Avenue to the Wegerzyn Gardens. It continues North past the public garden plots and the Model Airplane Flying Field. The trail comes out on the Wright Brothers Parkway, (AKA Needmore Road which becomes Shoup Mill Road in this area). The trail ends at Sinclair Park in Harrison Township.
- Stillwater River Recreation Trail (North) - (2 miles) The second section runs North from Jake Grossnickle Park (behind Good Samaritan Hospital (North 9000 N. Main Street) into Englewood MetroPark and ends there. There is access to the Park from the South entrance to the Hospital. See Yahoo Maps for an image that has Jake Grossnickle Park centered on the page. Follow the Stillwater River South and you'll see Sinclair Park on Shoup Mill Road.
There is about a four mile gap between the two sections of the trail. It is hoped that Five Rivers MetroParks and the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission (MVRPC) will, in the future, be able to connect these two trail sections. While this improvement is not in the current TIP (Transportation Improvement Program) which is a near term list of those projects that will be accomplished, it is in the Miami Valley Regional Bikeway Plan (see Chapter 5 page 17 Project MONT-4).

Regards to all,

Thomas J. Recktenwalt
Webmaster
Miami Valley RailTrails
http://www.miamivalleytrails.org

If you find these newsletters and my Miami Valley RailTrails website of use to you, please pass the information on to your friends and neighbors who might enjoy our Miami Valley Trails System, the wonderful system of multi-use trails in Southwest Ohio. Then they can write me and get on the mailing list to get their own copy of this newsletter. Our trail system is wonderful for walking, running, in-line skating, birding, fishing and cycling and on some trails horseback riding. You see more wildlife from one of our trails than most anyplace else. All of my newsletters are posted to my website at the same time I send you this text version. The URL for your use is: http://www.miamivalleytrails.org/join_our_mailing_list.htm

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