Miami Valley RailTrails Newsletter August 2009

Miami Valley RailTrails Newsletter
August 2009

Dear Friends: It’s Saturday 15 August, 2009 and I have (some) news for you.

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

All 2009 Trail Construction in the Miami Valley - Last month, July 2008, I gave you news of all the trail construction that will happen this year. If you didn’t read it, please see my July MVRT Newsletter.
Construction on Multi-Use Trails in Dayton – As you know there have been a lot of “broken trails” in downtown Dayton because of the multiple year re-construction of I-75. Added to that are bridge replacements in downtown Dayton. They include the Monument Avenue Bridge, and the Stewart Street Bridge on the river; and the Edwin C. Moses Bridge on Wolf Creek. All of the construction is having an impact on cycling in the downtown area. I am constantly working to get construction updates to keep cyclist informed. I am tracking construction detours on the following webpages:
- Island MetroPark to the Stewart Street Bridge - Three detours mentioned on this page; I-75 the replacement of the Stewart Street and the Monument Street Bridges.
- Stewart Street Bikeway - Closed for construction in and around University of Dayton
- Triangle MetroPark North to Taylorsville MetroPark - one detour at I-75.
Trail Construction on Little Miami Scenic Trail in Springfield – One of “My Spies” informed me that the Little Miami Scenic Trail near downtown Springfield will be affected by bridge construction at Pleasant Street where it passes over the trail.
The news release said:

“The aging bridge will be removed and replaced with a 14-foot-tall, 10-foot-wide box culvert pipe that will serve like a tunnel for the bike path below, City Engineer Leo Shanayda said. The pipe, which will be lighted for trail users, will be covered with dirt and the road will go on top. The project will cost more than $493,000 and be paid for by the Federal Highway Administration and the Ohio Public Works Commission. “There are no local dollars,” Shanayda said. The contractor is Mainline Road & Bridge Construction Inc. in Beavercreek. The construction could begin in August and wrap up in October, depending on how long it will take to manufacture the culvert pipe, Shanayda said. The recommended detour around the construction for drivers will be Limestone Street to John Street to Yellow Springs Street back to Pleasant Street or vice versa.
The detour for trail users from the south will be Fair Street to Plum Street to Clark Street to Center Street to the bike path. From the north, it is the same but reversed.”

Please see the link to Yahoo Maps to see Pleasant Avenue, which in the photo is running East to West, and crosses over the trail which is the tree lined South to North route

Trail Construction News from Miami County on WHIO TV – If you are interested click on the link above to be taken the WHIO-TV website and see a short video article on the trail construction in Miami County. It features Mr. Bob Shook, the chairman of the Miami County Trails Task Force.

Website Changes and Improvements

Changes in Trail Page Orientation – As some of you know, this website has been in existence since the Fall of 1997; almost twelve years. Early on, I started building webpages for the Little Miami Scenic Trail. I started photographing the trail at Xenia Station. So the first page was from Xenia to Spring Valley. I started riding at Xenia Station and took photos in a North to South direction. When I photographed the Spring Valley to Corwin section, I started at Spring Valley and took photos in the same order, North to South. In the same way, I took photos of the rest of the trail North of Xenia, in a South to North orientation.

Some of you may know that the trail mileage numbers that were painted on the trail used to start at Milford (0.0 miles) and ran North to Xenia. After the trail was extended South of Milford to Terrace Park, the local parks departments, the Little Miami Scenic Park organization and the Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana Council of Governments (OKI), the organization that funds trails in the Cincinnati area, decided to change the trail mileage markings to make Xenia Station, the 0.0 mile point. So the old mileage markings were painted over, and new ones reflecting Xenia Station as the 0.0 mileage point were added to the trail.

The Great Miami River Recreation Trail (GMRRT) started in Montgomery County and is being extended North through Miami County to Sidney in Shelby County and South through Butler and Warren Counties to Hamilton. But when I started photographing progress of the trail in Miami County, none of it was completed. I would park at the most convenient end of the completed section and photograph it as I rode it. So that webpage’s orientation would be in the order I rode it. On another new trail section, I might start photographing it starting in another location and photograph in a different order. Ultimately I plan to make all pages consistent with what was done on the Little Miami Scenic Trail

As you can no doubt deduce, the webpages that describe the Great Miami River Recreation Trail (Miami County) are pretty much scrambled up. I am presently working to change the orientation on some of the pages so they are consistent from section to section. This will take some time, because I have to move every picture and description on every page that I change. I don’t have it done yet, but I am working on it. I will also be working on the Great Miami River Recreation Trail (Warren & Butler Counties)

WHY AM I TELLING YOU ALL OF THE ABOVE?

Some of you know that I am a member of the Bicycle Committee of Miami Valley Regional Planning Committee (MVRPC), the planning organization for all transportation projects (including bicycle trails) in Montgomery, Miami, Greene and a bit of Northern Butler county. I have suggested to them that the same sort of trail mileage scheme as used on the Little Miami Scenic Trail be applied to the GMRRT, with the zero mileage point for the eventual 90+ mile trail be at Five Rivers MetroParks Riverscape in downtown Dayton. Trails North of Riverscape would be marked South to North. For example, the trail from Triangle Park in downtown Dayton will be marked as “miles North of Riverscape”. Taylorsville MetroPark will be marked as 15.5 miles (North of Riverscape) and Thomas Kyle Park in Tipp City will be marked as 21 miles North of Riverscape.

Photos & Information Wanted Department

None this month

Did you Know Department?

DaytonMostMetro.com - I was unaware of the following website until an article from it was picked by the Dayton Daily News. The article was titled: Drive Less, Bike More and it says a lot of what I want to say about cycling in the Dayton area but the author; Bill Pote, says it better. Take a read!

Waterways & Pathways Is Available - (Repeat) Last month I told you about The Waterways & Pathways publication. It's a printed guide to "bike trails, rivers and parks in Southwest Ohio" You can get paper copies free at the locations below. I was able to get an Adobe Acrobat file of the entire document that you can download by clicking on the title above or Click Here (Adobe 5.0Mb). I think you'll find it useful.
- Xenia Chamber of Commerce
- Xenia Station
- Yellow Springs Chamber of Commerce
- Young's Jersey Dairy
- Bicycle shops in the area
- Greene County Convention and Visitor's Bureau

Announcements of Upcoming Events

See Upcoming Events Area

Nothing new. If you have a cycling event and you’d like to get some publicity for it, please send me information about it. I’ll place it on my Events Page.

Webpage of the Month

Every month in this portion of my newsletter, I link to one webpage (or the beginning page of a group of webpages that refer to one trail) in this space. I do this so that my readers, who may not have ever seen that webpage get an opportunity to read the page.

This month’s page is The Tecumseh Trail in New Carlisle. This is one of a group of webpages on the site that represent planned, funded but so far un-built trails. I took the pictures and wrote the copy for this trail in 2005, four years before construction actually started.

Why did I do this? First, because I am on the Clarke County trails committee and I learn about their plans from the meetings I attend. Second, and perhaps more importantly, I build these “Not Yet Built” trails pages to show you what is being planned for your “riding pleasure.” So click on the link above to be taken to the page and see what Clarke County is about. Soon, (with luck) I’ll be able to get to New Carlisle and photograph a finished trail. Then most of the copy on this page and all of the pictures will be replaced for your use. If you look at my Site Map, you will see the names of other un-built trails. Look for the note “trail in planning.”

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

Return to Join Our Mailing List

For more information on each Web Page or Trail click on its name.

Clark County Trails | Buck Creek Trail | Simon Kenton Trail | Prairie Grass Trail |
| The Tecumseh Trail |

Greene County Trails Creekside Trail | Towler Road Spur| Prairie Grass Trail | Little Miami Scenic Trail | T-Connector |
| Wright Brothers' Bikeway | Xenia-Jamestown Connector | Xenia Station | I-675 Crossing |

Montgomery County Trails Creekside Recreation Trail | Great Miami River Recreation Trail |
Great Miami River Recreation Trail (Northern Segment) | Mad River Recreation Trail |
| Stillwater River Recreation Trail | Stewart St. Bikeway | Iron Horse Trail |
| The Great Miami River Recreation Trail [GMRRT] in Warren & Butler Counties |
| Wolf Creek Recreation Trail |

Miami County Trails Trails in Miami County |Section 1 | Section 2 | Piqua Activities Trail For Health |
| Canal Run | The River's Edge North |The River's Edge South | Troy Bike Trail | Section 5 | Tipp City Trail

Warren County Trails| Lebanon Countryside Trail |
| The Great Miami River Recreation Trail (GMRRT in Warren & Butler Counties | Little Miami Scenic Trail |

Resources | Complete Ohio Trails List (Alphabetical) | Ohio Trails List (By County with Maps) |
| Hotels, Motels & Campgrounds near Trails | About Trail Names & Route Numbers |
| Free Screen-Saver for Download | Monthly Newsletters | Search This Website | Website Statistics |
| Trail Etiquette & Safety Rules | Funded Multi-Use Trail Projects | Emergency Telephone Numbers |

Other Links | Home Page | Bicycle Trails in Ohio | Hot-List | Join Our Mailing List |
   | Maps | Search Website | Site Map (Contents) | Glenn Oster's Trail Reviews | What's New |
| Hotels, Motels, B&Bs and Campgrounds | Horseback Riding | Trail Etiquette & Safety |
| Ohio Motor Vehicle Laws for Cyclists | Website Statistics| Information For Advertisers | Trail Usage Statistics |
| Trail Construction History |

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