Stewart Street Bikeway

East from Stewart Street Bridge to University of Dayton
Connects to the Great Miami River Recreation Trail
at the Stewart Street Bridge
0.7 Miles

New Stewart Street Bridge

Construction - The University of Dayton took possession of all of the old NCR land to the river about 2008. The trail reopened early in 2010 According to the University, by late 2010 the University of Dayton will have a path suitable for walking or bicycling from the campus on Brown Street, down the Stewart Street Bikeway across the bridge and South on Edwin C. Moses Blvd. to the University of Dayton Arena and the other sports venues there. Click Here to see new route South on Edwin C. Moses Blvd.

Route: From the intersection of Stewart Street and Edwin C. Moses Blvd. at the West end of the Stewart Street Bridge across the Great Miami River, East. The trail crosses Patterson Blvd. , Main Street , Rubicon Road and then crosses Brown Street to enter the University of Dayton. From the Stewart Street Bridge you can take the Great Miami River Recreation Trail North on either bank of the River. Going South from the bridge you can only ride the Great Miami River Recreation Trail on the East bank of the Great Miami River.

History: This trail was announced for construction in 1999 and named at that time "The Rubicon Trail". The story goes that there was a small creek between two farms in what is now the trail area. The creek was called the "Rubicon Creek" because the two farmers did not get along and if one of them really wanted a fight; "he'd cross the Rubicon." (For those not classically trained Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon River on his way to attack Rome and become the first Roman Emperor. Crossing the Rubicon was the act that made the battle inevitable.)

Impressions: This trail spur opened 28 June 2001. It is a connector for the University of Dayton to the rail system. It is a straight, short connector that enables University of Dayton personnel access to the Great Miami River Recreation Trail and the rest of the trail system in the area.

Trail Review: The trail is .7 miles long and runs East from the intersection of Stewart Street and Edwin C. Moses Blvd. in downtown Dayton to the University of Dayton. It was built specifically to provide U.D. students, staff and faculty access to the Great Miami River Recreation Trail in downtown Dayton. By providing access to the Great Miami Valley trail Five Rivers MetroParks have also provided access to the entire trail system to University of Dayton folks.

In this first picture we are looking South along the Great Miami River Recreation Trail South down the trail towards the new Stewart Street Bridge (see above) The trail is not yet finished to the bridge (April 2010). I was told that they would pave the last 100' of trail to the bridge soon.	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	In this next photo we are looking across the deck of the new bridge to the East. The trail is on both sides (sidewalks) of the bridge.

In this photo we have crossed the bridge and are on the East bank. We are looking East across South Patterson Blvd. towards the trail running along the South side of Stewart Street. There is a new University of Dayton sign on the corner.	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	Here we are looking North from the East end of the Stewart Street Bridge towards Veteran's Blvd. The trail on the East bank of the Great Miami River follows Veteran's for about .6 mile until it meets a ramp that takes the trail down to the river level.

We have moved East along the trail. Here we are looking back to the West and can see South Patterson Blvd. crossing the trail at the Stewart Street Bridge.	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	In this photo we have turned around and are facing East (towards UD). The Main Street crossing is just ahead of us. As I was walking towards Main Street, I saw the historical marker you see just below. I'm a sucker for history.

Here where the trail crosses Main Street is a historical marker that says that the Ohio 98th. Regiment mustered here on the Old Patterson Farm in August 1862 with 968 men. They mustered out of the Army in Nashville, Tennessee in June 1865 with 376 men!	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	In this photo we have crossed Main Street and are looking East towards the University. We cross Rubicon Road and next on the right is a large U.D. parking lot which you can see in the background. The buildings are across Brown Street on the U.D. Campus.

In this photo we have crossed Rubicon Road and are at the parking lot. Out of the picture to the left is a popular local pub, Flannigan's Pub. The University buildings are just ahead.	Click on photo for larger image


Click on photo for larger image	Here we have reached Brown Street and the campus (with U.D. sign) is across the street. The Stewart Street Bikeway ends here. However the University is working to build a trail Southeast from this area, across (or around) campus to reach the new Iron Horse Trail in Dayton and Oakwood . This trail will start and the Southeast edge of the campus at Irving Avenue. The route runs South from there on an old railbed through Oakwood and into Kettering.

New Trail Section from Stewart Street and Edwin C. Moses Blvd. South to University of Dayton Arena To be built in 2010

In this photo we have a photo of the University of Dayton Arena. The photo was taken looking West across Edwin C. Moses Blvd. It's about .7 miles from here to the Stewart Street Bridge. .	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	Further North on Edwin C. Moses is Welcome Stadium . The new extension of the trail will follow the Great Miami River side of Moses Blvd.

At left is a photo from Goggle Maps showing the vicinity of the West side of the River. Click Here to be taken to Google Maps so you can manipulate the map yourself.	Click on photo for larger image

The new trail will be about 3,700 feet and will cost $81K It will start at the Stewart Street Bridge and drop down into the river bottom a couple of hundred feet South of Stewart Street. Then the route will come back up to street level opposite the University of Dayton Arena using the existing ramp. The trail will then stay on levy to end at the Courtyard by Marriott Dayton-Dayton University‎ parking lot. This construction should be complete in 2010.