News
from Clark County - Tecumseh
Trail Construction – The bids have been opened and the
lowest bid is $539K for this 2 mile trail through the City of New Carlisle. It is expected
that the contract will be awarded in July 2009 and construction will start
not later than Fall 2009 with a trail completion in Spring 2010.
News
from Darke County - The Union City Gateway
Was Dedicated – This one mile trail segment from Union City, Ohio to Union City, Indiana was dedicated 19 June 2009. This short trail is the beginning of a planned trail that will run East from the Cardinal Greenway (eventually) through Randolph County, Indiana to the Union City Gateway. From there the trail will continue East through Greenville and through Darke County into
Randolph County, Indiana. Eventually (years from now) it is planned to
connect to the Cardinal Greenway in Indiana.
News from Miami County – As you may know the complete Great Miami River Recreation Trail (Miami County) will be 22 miles long and run from Sydney in the North
going through Piqua, Troy and Tipp City before connecting to Montgomery County at Ross Road (Taylorsville MetroPark). The trail developers are hoping to close the gap between Piqua and Troy next year. Here is more news of construction.
Trail South from Peterson Road to Eldean Road
- This work will be in two parts.
Trail
on West bank of Great Miami River (AKA Section 5) The contract for $589K
was awarded for the 1.99 miles on the West side of the River with
J.L. DeWeiss and is scheduled to be completed by 15 October 2009.
East side of Great Miami River - This .5
mile section will run South about from the Peterson Road Bridge.
This construction, due to be complete in 2010 or 2011 will include
the bicycle bridge over the river to the completed section on the
West bank of the Great Miami River.
Trail in Thomas Kyle Park
(Tipp City) Finished-
I was informed by “sharp eyed” cyclist Todd Sanders that the trail to extend the existing trail South to the end of Kyle Park in Tipp City had been accomplished.
Trail from Kyle Park South to Taylorsville
MetroPark - Kyle Park South to Taylorsville MetroPark –
Construction will start in 2009 and should be complete by next year.
This work will include a tunnel under Ross Road to take the
trail to Taylorsville MetroPark.
When complete Miami County and Montgomery County will be
connected.
News
from Montgomery County - [Revised 07/17/09]
Our friends at the Miami
Conservancy District (MCD) are working to build a trail South from
Stewart Street Bridge in downtown Dayton past the University
of Dayton's Welcome Station and Arena approximately 4,500 feet to
the Courtyard
by Marriott on Edwin C. Moses Blvd. Gravel will be added to the top of
MCD's levee later this Summer with the trail segment paved somewhat
later. I was told recently that MCD "had no funds" for this
trail extension, and "Kokosing (the contractor) is going to build some ramps for us that will be used by the trail
when it eventually gets built.
News
from Warren County - Our Friends of the Little Miami Scenic Park did it again!
Their 30-day fundraising campaign launched on May 22nd concluded two weeks
ago with 77 people donating $5,224 towards their goal of $7,000. Because of this generosity, the Friends of the Little Miami State Park were able to pay $3,990 as its portion of the $22,150 for paving the 11 bridges (which
are completed), and they ordered 77 new oak boards to replace boards on the Bear Run and Beech Run bridges just
North and South of Loveland, mile markers 37.9 and 46.0 respectively. They have grown to 129 members and their email list to 448.
Lock 9 Park to Peterson Road (3miles) - This trail section dedicated on 5 June is a part of the Great Miami River Recreation Trail in Miami County. I photographed the trail on Father’s Day and added a new webpage to this website.
I am calling the new portion of the Great Miami River Recreation Trail
(Miami County) the Rivers Edge
Trail (South). Take a look at all the new pictures including a
header photo from Bing.com.
Union City Gateway Dedicated – This one mile trail segment from Union City Ohio to Union City Indiana was dedicated 19 June 2009. I did not attend but received photos from MVRPC that I used to update the webpage. Eventually this trail is planned to extend East through Darke County to Greenville, then extend to Miami County reaching Piqua. Finally the trail is being planned to continue East to Urbana in Champaign County.
In Indiana there are long range plans being made to connect what I am
starting to call the Ohio to Indiana Trail, to the Cardinal
Greenway Trail in Randolph County,
Statistics
Page Updated – I have added a continuously updated chart from
Quantcast to show how many people are visiting the website daily. I also
provide the new Google Analytics report for 01Jan-30 June 2009.
Trails in Ohio Pages Updated – Once or twice a year I spend some hours updating my links to every multi-use trail in Ohio. I have then sorted in two ways for you use.
Trails in Ohio (With Maps by Region and County) – If you know where you’d like to ride. There is a map of Ohio broken into six regions. You select the region and then you see a map of the region. Each county on the region is a clickable hotspot on the map.
For example if you were to select the Southwest portion of the map of
Ohio, you'd be taken to the RailTrails in the
Southwest Region of Ohio page.
Volunteers Needed for Trail Counts on 26 & 29 July – Yes; That’s right! Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission (MVRPC) along with Montgomery, Greene, Miami Counties as well as Piqua, Tipp City and Washington-Centerville Park District are asking for volunteers to help count trail users in 33 locations in the three counties on Sunday 26 July and Wednesday 29 July, 2009. There are “rain dates” also established. They are Sunday 9 August and Wednesday 12 August 2009 You can help. Each
municipality or county is asking for volunteers to help them count trail users. Here’s where you sign up.
Greene County
Parks: 562-7446 For more information regarding call 937-562-7446 and speak with Ms Robin Gregory or email her at
rgregory@co.greene.oh.us .
Miami County Park
District: 335-6273
Centerville-Washington Park
District: 433-5155
Tipp
City: 506-3165
City
of Piqua: 778-2085
You can
also read Ken McCall's (Dayton Daily News) article by Clicking
Here.
Waterways
& Pathways Is Available - 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
Five Rivers MetroParks Levy on November 2009 Ballot – Our friends at Five Rivers MetroParks, have worked diligently over the years, many times in cooperation with Miami Conservancy District to bring you over 60 miles of multi-use trails in Montgomery County. They are asking for your help at the ballot box this November. They are asking you to support
a 1.8 mile replacement levy for the parks. On a home assessed at $100K the cost to you will be $1.00 more a month. That’s
ONE DOLLAR FOLKS! And what do get for your DOLLAR? You get a wonderful park system. I remember the parks before Five Rivers MetroParks was established and took over stewardship of them. They were no place for you or your children. But now we have parks that are showcases as well as wonderful programs for you and your children. Oh Yes! Did I mention the 60+ miles of multi-use trails that you get to use? I think that ONE DOLLAR A MONTH is not much to pay for all that you get. This levee provides for 80% of all the revenues of Five Rivers MetroParks. You can find out more about the levee at:
http://www.metroparks2009.org
At their website they mention some of the things that they have done for you in the past few years. May I add to their list of accomplishments and plans from my
Trail Construction History
List.
• 2010 – Planned extension of Mad River Recreation Trail to Huffman MetroPark
• 2009 – Construction start of trail from Kyle Park (Tipp City) to Taylorsville MetroPark
• 2008 – Trail from Triangle MetroPark to Taylorsville MetroPark completed.
• 2005 – Trail in Taylorsville MetroPark extended through Tadmore to park’s Northern boundary.
• 2004 – New bridge and trail at Wesleyan MetroPark connected to the Paul Lawrence Dunbar Trail
• 2003 – New Bike Bridge at Deeds Point to connect Mad River Recreation Trail to Great Miami River Recreation Trail.
• 2003 - Wolf Creek Recreation Trail – from mouth of the river emptying into Great Miami River alongside Wolf Creek and connecting to existing trail
• 2002 – Stillwater River Recreation Trail – From Englewood MetroPark South to Jake Grossnickle Park
• 2002 - Great Miami River Recreation Trail Extended – Trail extended South from Soccer Fields to Rip Rap Road.
• 2001 – Stewart Street Trail from Great Miami River Recreation Trail to the University of Dayton opens.
• 2001- New Bridge over Spinning Road on Creekside Recreation Trail opens.
• 2000 - Creekside Recreation Trail – The Montgomery County section of this trail from the county line to Eastwood MetroPark opens.
• This is not all! - To see a history of trail construction in the Miami Valley
Click Here
And by the way theGardenSMART TV show is featuring Five Rivers MetroParks gardens on an upcoming show that will air on PBS14/16 in about five weeks.
Miami
Valley Cycling Summit -
- Five Rivers MetroParks
is holding a Cycling Summit
on Friday 14 August, 2009 at the University of Dayton's College Park
Center, 300 College Park (or 1529 Brown Street), Dayton, Ohio 45469-2902 Google
Map see also a Map
and Directions from UD. If you are interested in the future of the trails
in the Miami Valley here's some of what their Home Page says:
"Further Influence the Miami Valley’s Cycling Agenda Join key members of the Miami Valley’s cycling community in Dayton as we strive toward
making the Miami Valley the first Bike Friendly Region in the Ohio. At the 2009 Miami Valley Cycling Summit, for the first time we’ll be presenting the Miami Valley’s cycling agenda directly to the public, advocacy groups, retailers, community leaders, and local officials in one location. It’s your chance to further engage in the region’s bike agenda and learn about the past, present and future of cycling in the Miami Valley. Get ready for influential keynote speakers, powerful break out sessions, and motivating round table discussions."
If you have the time I highly recommend that you attend this important
event.
Pelotonia Tour for
Cancer Research with Lance Armstrong -
- Lance Armstrong will be in Columbus on
August 28, 2009 for the opening ceremony of Pelotonia, a bike tour set out to defeat cancer. Armstrong will lead motivated cyclists on a “century race” from Columbus to Athens, Ohio. One hundred percent of Pelotonia proceeds are given to help benefit The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center -- James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute. Pelotonia was founded by NetJets and has strong hopes to raise $4 million in their 2009 inaugural tour starting in Columbus, with even bigger goals of raising $40 million for the fight against cancer in the next five years. This three-day journey offers three different tour options, a 50-mile, a 100-mile, and a 180-mile bike ride.
For information on how to register, donate, or volunteer for Pelotonia
09click on the link at left.
Bicycle Camp (Old Towne Reserve)
Mon Jul 27, 9am – 1pm,
Map - Have you always wanted to ride the bike paths in Greene County? Here is your opportunity. Riders will visit the local ice cream shops. Each day bring your bicycle, helmet, lunch and drink. You will be riding every day. Participants should be dropped off at Old Towne Reserve. A mini bike rodeo is planned for each week by the Greene County Trail Sentinels to test your bicycling skills and basic bicycle maintenance and repair. Camp is open to boys and girls ages 9-13.
For
More Information
The Great
Miami River Recreation Trail [GMRRT] in Warren &
Butler Counties - As many of you know the (GMRRT) is being
planned to be as long or longer than the Little Miami Scenic Trail. At
present the trail, when completed from Sidney (Shelby County), through
Piqua, Troy and Tipp City (Miami County), Dayton, West Carrollton and
Miamisburg (Montgomery County), Franklin, Middleton and Hamilton (Butler
County), will be over 100 miles long. I have webpages for the trail as
follows:
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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