Miami Valley RailTrails Newsletter February 2006

Miami Valley RailTrails Newsletter
February 2006

It’s 18 February 2006; and "Baby It's Cold Outside!" I have new information 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

New Iron Horse Trail Construction Plans - The cities of Kettering and Centerville are planning new construction of the existing Iron Horse Trail that currently runs from the Creekside Recreation Trail South 3.7 miles. Kettering will continue from the current trail South to its border with Centerville. The City of Centerville, with the cooperation of Washington Township, will build the trail North from Iron Horse Park to the City of Kettering. If a grant is approved this year, construction of the Centerville section could take place in 2007. I have updated the Iron Horse Trail page with detailed information from both the City of Kettering and the City of Centerville. Please see:
- City of Kettering Plans for Iron Horse Trail
- City of Centerville Plans for Iron Horse Trail
Washington Street Bridge Construction - The Washington Street Bridge in downtown Dayton crosses the Great Miami River Recreation Trail just North of the US-35 bridges over the Great Miami River and the trail. Bid Requests for the replacement of the bridge were to go out this month (February 2006.) Construction is planned to begin in May or June 2006 and the work is planned for completion by December 2007. Because of the bridge construction there will be a detour on each side of the trail.
East Bank - If you are on the trail on the East bank of the river the detour will run North from Stewart Street on Veteran’s Parkway, cross Washington Street and then rejoin the trail at the access road just North of Washington Street.
West Bank - If you are traveling North on the West bank of the trail you will have to go up the ramp, then follow the sidewalk along Edwin C. Moses Blvd. past Elizabeth Place (old Saint Elizabeth’s Hospital) which is South of the construction. The detour will continue North along the Edwin C. Moses Blvd. sidewalk past the work to Sunrise Park (at Edwin C. Moses Blvd. and W. 3rd. Street). At Sunrise Park you’ll take your bicycle down the stairs back to the trail.
Findlay Street Bridge (Over Mad River Recreation Trail) – Plans to complete the bridge, whose construction started June 2005, must wait until the weather is warm enough to asphalt the approaches on both sides of the bridge. Bridge dedication is planned for 1 May 2006. The bicycle trail is planned to be opened at the same time as the bridge. or by June 1, 2006.

New Grant Request for Trail Development in Miami County - Miami County Bike Path Task Force Chairman Bob Shook recently announced A Clean Ohio Grant Application for the completion of the Bike Path section from Piqua's Lock Nine Park through The Piqua Material Inc. property along the Miami River to Peterson Road. The grant application. for $450,000, is a joint partnership between The City of Piqua and The Miami County Park District. This trail section is called Section 6 by the Miami County Bike Path Task Force
        Piqua Parks Director Scott Myers stated that this bike path section will provide Piqua citizens with a future connection to The Miami County and all the Southern Ohio Bike Paths. Jerry Eldred, Miami County Parks Executive Director, added that this Piqua connector will be a beautiful and vital addition to the Miami County Bike Trails program.
        The Piqua Bike Path section will connect with the proposed path coming from Troy to Eldean Road. It will then follow the Miami River west bank through the Twin Arches Park, then run North under the I-75 bridges to Peterson Road crossing the river onto Piqua Material land.
        The section from Troy to Eldean Road is currently in the planning stages as a joint project by the City of Troy and the Miami County Engineers. It is funded by a TEA grant through Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission with a projected completion date in 2008/2009.
        The completion of the Piqua to Troy sections will leave only the Piqua to Shelby County section to be planned and grants applied for to provide 22 miles of Miami County bike path from Shelby County to Montgomery County's Five Rivers MetroParks trails.
        Chairman Shook commented that the Task Force has worked very hard since 2001, with inter-government and regional cooperation to bring this wonderful public recreational project to near future completion. A Regional Bike Trail Map is available from many local public offices and The Miami County Tourist Office in Troy. (Author's Note) - The map may be downloaded from the MVRPC website or ordered from them. You can also pick up a copy from any local park district office.

Website Changes and Improvements

Ellis Park Spur - Greene County Parks and Recreation started building this .25 mile spur from the Little Miami Scenic Trail just North of Yellow Springs West to Ellis Park on Polecat Road. When it is finished in the Spring of 2006, it will provide another location for trail users to park. I recently added a webpage for this spur to the website so you can see the construction progress.
Iron Horse Trail - (Page Improved) - Please read above about plans by the cities of Kettering and Centerville to build more of the Iron Horse Trail and connect it to the trail's current end in Beavercreek. I communicated with both city's parks departments and got detailed plans which I placed on the Iron Horse Trail page under Trail Plans. Please look there for how and when this trail will be built. I am planning to add two new pages to this area once route plans are finalized. One will show the City of Kettering's route from the trail's current end in Beavercreek to Kettering's border with Centerville. The second will be the route of the new trail in Centerville.

Did You Know Department

New Site Map Page - Recently I added a new Table of Contents (or Site Map) to the website. I have been adding to it and improving it. I show each major trail, then all of the trail sections that make up that trail, and all of the connections to other trails. This will make the list handy for those planning a route for their next ride.

Dayton and MVRPC Considering Traffic Flow Change in Downtown - The Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission (MVRPC) and the City of Dayton recently embarked on a study of the downtown Dayton street grid to examine the feasibility of converting as many streets as possible from one-way to two-way traffic. The city established the one-way streets back in the mid-1950s when downtown was the employment center of the Miami Valley. This was pre-I-75, when NCR alone employed 30,000 people. Besides NCR, there many other major employers in the downtown area, including Harrison Radiator, Frigidaire, Dayton Tire, McCall's and Dayton Press. Literally thousands of people flowed through the Dayton street grid to jobs every day. Those companies and jobs, except for NCR, are all gone.
        Today the traffic flow in downtown Dayton is very different from that era. There is little congestion and traffic jams seldom happen. The streets have more capacity than is needed for current traffic. Since there is now excess traffic capacity, there is an opportunity to consider changing lanes on some streets from automotive to bicycle use. Please consider adding your support to this idea which I feel has a great deal of merit.
        In the City of Dayton four significant trails meet. They are the Wolf Creek Recreational Trail, Mad River Recreation Trail, Stillwater River Recreation Trail and the Great Miami River Recreation Trail. The street system and the trail system have no current connectivity. That could change as a result of this study. Consider what could happen if the trail system and the street system were tied together in a meaningful way. That would allow a much greater level of bicycle use for commuters and other trail users who want to get from one place to another without using an automobile. If the study were to include consideration for:
        1. Lanes converted for bicycle use
        2. Connections between streets and multi-use trails and
        3. An integrated signage system to tie the two together
then transportation in the City of Dayton could be greatly enhanced for cyclists.
        I am asking my readers to write to the planners conducting the study to support these ideas as critical to their two-way street study. Five Rivers MetroParks and the Miami Conservancy District have already endorsed the idea about the two-way study at public meetings, but we need all the support we can get from both the cycling community and the general public to add these additional considerations to the two-way study. I encourage you to send your written support to:

Mr. Paul W. Arnold
MVRPC
One Dayton Center, Suite 260
Dayton, OH 45402
parnold@mvrpc.org

Tetra Tech
Bryan Newell, AICP
1328 Dublin Road, Suite 201A
Columbus, OH 43215
Bryan.Newell@ttmps.com

You can see information about the study at the MVRPC Website. You can also see, download and order the Downtown Dayton Street Grid Street Direction Conversion Study. Please support what I have outlined above, by reading about the plan and then writing to lend you support to adding cycling considerations to the existing plan.

Announcements of Upcoming Cycling Events
(Also See Events Page )

Moonlight Bicycle Rides - 2006 - National Trail Parks and Recreation and the Trail Riders Association are sponsoring monthly Moonlight Bicycle Rides starting at Old Reid Park at the shelter house near the dog park. Since this is a night ride bicycle lights are required. While helmets are not required they are highly recommended. Some riders share a carry-in picnic before and/or after the ride. Rain will cancel the ride.
Events Page Updated - As I receive information from those who wish to publicize cycling events, I update the "Cycling Events" page. Recently I put information on the page about "Moonlight Rides" being sponsored by the National Trail Parks and Recreation (Clark County) [See above] and Young's 2006 Ice Cream Charity Bike Tour. When you're on this site you might want to check the events page.

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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