Continued Trail Construction in Miami County
- As many of you know, I go to Miami County monthly to attend their trail planning meetings. After the meeting I rush home to tell you about what I learned at the meeting. There are two active construction projects in the county and one that, if funded this Fall, will be a major factor in finished the trail the entire length of Miami County. They are:
Eldean Road to 500’ North of the I-75 intersection with County Road
25A. This work is planning to be done by 15 October 2009.
Bicycle Bridge across Great Miami River and trail through the
Caldwell Property. Miami County Parks bought a track of land that borders Route 25A and Peterson Road. Engineering planning is underway and the dedicated bike bridge should be built in 2011. The trail will continue on the East bank of the river through the Caldwell Property North to cross Peterson Road and join the new trail built this year from Lock 9 Park in Piqua South to Peterson Road.
Miami County Parks will try to finish the last 30’ or so of trail that should end at Peterson
Road. There is a water course that keeps the area wet. At the same time the Parks District is planning to build a small parking lot just across Peterson Road at the Northern edge of the Caldwell Property. These two tasks will be accomplished in 2010 with existing funds (hopefully).
Lytle Road to Eldean Road – This section has a request in for private funding. If our request is granted construction could begin early in 2010. This section, when finished will connect the Troy Trail, which ends at Lytle Road to Piqua, when the Eldean Road to Peterson Road section is complete (see above).
Springfield Road (Ross Road) to Thomas Kyle Park in Tipp City
- This section is under contract and will be completed in 2010. The construction connects the Northern border of Taylorsville MetroPark (Montgomery County) to the existing trail in Kyle Park (Tipp City). The work includes putting a box culvert under Ross Road. The trail will run on the East side of Canal Road until it connects with Kyle Park. Completion of this section marks the connection between Montgomery and Miami Counties and the eventual connection across Miami County to Sidney in Shelby County.
New Construction in Greene County
Towler Road Spur off of Creekside Trail (Xenia) – Recently I photographed the Towler Road Spur in Xenia. It runs West from the Creekside Trail about one mile North of US-35 (downtown Xenia). The spur is .7 miles and ends at West Side Park. This trail was started in 2008 and was to be finished in 2009, but lack of funds, I assume, has kept it from completion. There is a link to the new webpage from the Creekside Trail page.
New Trail Signs at Xenia Station
– A week or so ago, I visited Xenia Station to see the new signs installed by Greene County Parks. The signs are big, informative and useful. Please see the updated Xenia Station page. They are also being installed on trails in Montgomery and Miami County. Please also see my
December 2008 Newsletter where I first told you about the new signage.
Xenia-Jamestown Connector Extended
– In 2008 the Xenia-Jamestown Connector was extended ½ mile from Jasper Road Southeast to Hoop Road. It too was to be completed this year (2009) but sadly it is also not complete. I have updated the webpage to show you where the trail now ends and how to get to it.
“The Ohio Dept of Natural Resources (ODNR) and the Friends of the Little Miami State Park (FLMSP) have paid for 11 of the 15 wooden bridges along the 50 mile stretch of the State Park. These bridges were asphalted in accordance with ODOT standards. The comments from early users are very positive and complimentary. Our thanks should be extended to the Ohio State Parks for their financial contribution, their prep work on the bridges, and their overall management of the project. Also we extend our thanks to HiMark Construction and Brown Construction & Paving for bringing this project in on time and within budget.” See their webpage for more information at:
http://flmsp.org/
Little
Miami Scenic Trail Closed South of Corwin – I received the
following email from Mr. Alan Ferguson, the manager of the Little Miami
Scenic Park. You can use Corwin Road (runs next to Corwin Peddler) to bypass the
construction.
To all,
I wanted to send out this notice to let everyone know that the riverbank restoration project just south of Corwin on the Little Miami Scenic Trail will begin on Monday morning September 14, 2009. Trail closures may be expected between September 14 and October 14, 2009. Barricades will be placed in the area of MM 15 and 16, just south of the Corwin Village limits. Trail users are advised to use the Corwin Staging area for points north on the trail and the Caesar Creek Access staging area for points south.
Our thanks go to Marsha Rolph with the Warren County Soil and Water Conservation District for coordinating work and securing EPA Grant funding for this project. As many of you are aware, we were in danger, in the very near future, of losing that portion of trail due to riverbank erosion. It is expected that this project will restore a sustainable bank slope and preserve the original railroad/trail base.
We regret the inconvenience of a trail closure. However, it became apparent during our last site visit that due to the extent of the erosion and the size of the heavy equipment required to conduct the repairs, that a safe route around the project would not be possible. We ask our loyal park users to bear with us as we make these continued improvements to ensure the integrity of the trail.
If you have any further questions please give me a call.
Thank you,
Alan Ferguson
Park Manager
Ohio State Parks
Cowan Lake Region
513-897-3055
Recovering from broken neck a life-changing experience for doctor
– By Ken McCall (Dayton Daily News) Sept 6, 2009 – Ken’s article about Dr. Ron Stout recounted the accident he had Labor Day 2008. Riding over one of the old, rivet-encrusted railroad bridges on the Little Miami Scenic Trail, Dr. Stout fell from his bicycle and broke his neck. In part, because of Dr Stout’s horrific accident and other trail users who have hurt themselves on the trail, the Friends of the Little Miami Scenic Park (FLMSP) was established. And because of their fine efforts most of the bridges have been paved in 2009. Thanks a lot
FLMSP!
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. My friend,
Mr. Ed Dressler, is the publisher of this useful document.
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
Commute for Better Health - Did you know that if you bike to work every day
(A 150# man riding about one hour a day round trip = 500 calories a day) you’ll burn 2,500 calories a week. That’s .7 pounds a week you’ll lose (2,500/3,500 calories per pound) even if you don’t change any eating habits. I read the article in Parade Magazine (it comes with the Sunday paper) on 16 August, 2009. If you’d like to read it here’s a link to it.
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.
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.
Trail Reviews By Glenn Oster
- I called Glenn Oster last week to see how he was doing. Glenn used to live in Pittsburgh and came to the Miami Valley to ride our trails. He first wrote me in 1998 to ask if I would publish a review he had written on his ride on the Little Miami Scenic Trail. I told him I would be glad to do so. Up until 2004, I published nine of his trail reviews including his rides in New Zealand and Australia. I finally met him when he rode the Prairie Grass Trail with me in August 2004. He was 79 at that point and he rode my butt into the
ground! He told me that he was planning to ride 80 miles on his 80th birthday. Glenn is 84 now and lives in Florida and according to him can
only ride 45 or so miles a day in 95 degree heat. I hope I am half as good a cyclist at his age. So this month I have decided to make the Webpage of the Month the trail reviews of Glenn Oster. They are a bit dated but I think you will enjoy reading them
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
