Miami Valley RailTrails Newsletter April 2006

Miami Valley RailTrails Newsletter
April 2006

It’s 22 April 2006 and I have news for you about the trails in the Miami Valley. Please read on.

Trail Construction and Improvements.

Website Changes and Improvements

Did You Know Department

Announcements of Upcoming Cycling Events

Trail Construction and Improvements

Crains Run Park to Franklin Construction News - Clearing of the right of way started Fall 2005 and work is continuing. The construction schedule calls for this four mile section of the Great Miami River Recreation Trail to be finished by Fall 2006. Miami Conservancy District, who is building the trail received a $1.2 million grant to build the trail. I will report later what the final cost of this continuation of the trail South from Crains Run Park to Hamilton. The entire project when finished, will be a 28 mile extension of the current trail. This extension was first called “The Great Connection.” I do not have a web page for this trail section but will build one sometime this Summer. Then I will update it when the trail to Franklin is completed.
Construction Projects on the Great Miami River Recreation Trail
- Construction On The Trail in West Carrollton - The trail in West Carrollton from the south end of Marina Drive 2,200 feet south to North Alex Road will be completely reconstructed in 2006. A possible detour is to stay on the sidewalk from Marina Drive South to North Alex Road. Turn right on Alex Road and follow that to the levee. Use the bike-stairs up the levee slope to rejoin the trail.
  Please Note: This detour is recommended for experienced cyclists only. Children alone or families with small children are advised to avoid this section of trail until the work is complete. The construction will begin 1 June and take about 45 days.
- US-35 Bridges in downtown Dayton Over The Trail Undergoing Construction - In downtown Dayton two Great Miami River bridge construction projects are underway. The two US35 bridges (eastbound and westbound) and Fifth Street will both see construction work this summer and may cause some delays or require trail users to dismount and walk around construction areas. No closures are anticipated at this time.
Clinton County Works to Build New Trails- I visited Wilmington, the county seat of Clinton County, on Saturday 8 April to meet Ms. Lori Williams, the head of Rails-To-Trails for Clinton County. Ms. Williams and I walked the Luther E. Warren Peace Trail and the 4-C Bicentennial trails in downtown Wilmington. With their connecting shared streets the two trails are about 5 miles in length. She explained to me their plans to build more trails in Wilmington and Clinton County. They plan to connect to the Tri-County Triangle Trail in Washington Courthouse to the East and to the Little Miami Scenic Trail in Morrow to the West.
Trail Construction Outside of Ohio - While I have not, as yet, started reporting on trails outside of Ohio, I am starting to report trails "near Ohio." For example here I will explain about a trail in Indiana just west of Cincinnati. If you look at a map of Ohio, you'll see that the City of Hamilton (Butler County) is not too far North of Greendale, Ohio. Currently the Great Miami River Recreation Trail is being extended South from Montgomery County through Warren and Butler Counties to Hamilton. If the trail construction below was to be extended North to Hamilton we would have a trail along the Great Miami River all the way from Dayton to the Ohio River!
- Aurora Indiana will inaugurate the new 2 mile Dearborn Trail Sunday May 6, 2006 . The trail is already open. Later in 2006 the trail will be extended East to meet with the existing trail in Lawrenceburg , Ind. Eventually the planners hope to connect with a trail in Greendale. To explain. The City of Greendale is West of Cincinnati, about 2 miles West of the Ohio-Indiana border. The Great Miami River empties into the Ohio River just East of Greendale. Lawrenceburg is West and South of Greendale on the Ohio River and Aurora is West and South of Lawrenceburg around a bend in the Ohio River. When these trails are complete there will be a scenic trail along the Ohio River from Aurora Indiana East to Greendale.

Website Changes and Improvements

How To Navigate This Website or Help Getting Around - I’ve added a new page to the website that explains in detail with pictures how to use the drop down menus available from the Home Page of the website. I hope that it may help some of you who have told me that you're having a bit of trouble finding your way around my website.

Did You Know Department

Miami Valley RailTrails Receives Honorable Mention Award- The American Trails organization awarded my website an Honorable Mention Award in the category of “Trail Tour or Virtual Visit". If you click on the link you'll see the American Trails page where each category of award is explained and the winners shown. I entered my website in several categories and they liked my "virtual tours" of the trails in the Miami Valley.

Announcements of Upcoming Cycling Events
(Also See Events Page )

Tour of the Scioto River Valley (TOSRV) - ( May 13-14 2006 ) - This Annual Event is a ride through the central region of Ohio . The ride starts at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus and ends in Portsmouth on the Ohio River

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 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 the 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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