Miami Valley RailTrails Newsletter July 2006

Miami Valley RailTrails Newsletter
July 2006

It’s 17 July 2006 and the Summer Heat Way is On! I have news for you about the trails in the Miami Valley. Please read on.

Trail Construction and Improvements.

Website Changes and Improvements

Photos Wanted Section

Did You Know Department

Announcements of Upcoming Cycling Events

Trail Construction and Improvements

Great Miami River Recreation Trail Construction Completed - The Miami Conservancy District reported in the Dayton Daily News that the construction on the trail at Marina Drive in West Carrollton can be completed two weeks ahead of schedule. I reported the detour in my June 2006 Newsletter. I had also added a "Construction Delay" on the webpage but have removed it.
Ellis Park Spur Complete- I am told that the Ellis Park Spur which runs West from the Little Miami Scenic Trail North of Yellow Springs across Polecat Road to Ellis Park is not yet finished. I rode it last week and it looked done to me. I have updated the webpage (see below) with all new photos. Ellis Park has new parking, a restroom, water, a pond and several picnic shelters. If you’d like a new place to park and use the trail; this is it!
Three County Trail News – I am told that all three portions of this new trail that will run from Eastwood MetroPark to Huffman MetroPark, Fairborn via the Wright Brothers Bikeway and then to Enon Park from the Black Lane area of Fairborn, are going to appraisal. This means that an ODNR approved appraiser will view the proposed trail and make a determination of the right-of-way’s worth. Then Five Rivers MetroParks and Norfolk Southern can begin negotiating seriously for Five Rivers to buy all three portions for Montgomery, Greene and Clark counties. Since the trail follows the Mad River I am suggesting to all parties that the trail be called the “Mad River Trail.”
Update on “T- Connector” – Last month I told you that this tunnel and bridge combination from Huffman MetroPark under SR-444 and over the railroad tracks would be on contract within one month. Latest information states that this approximately $2M construction will go on contract by September 2006. This is the linchpin that allows Montgomery County to connect directly to Greene and Clark counties via the Three County Trail (See above) The approximate trail distances are as follows:
- Eastwood MetroPark to Huffman MetroPark – 3 miles
- Fairborn YMCA to Black Lane (Fairborn) – 2 miles
- Black Lane to Enon Park – 4 miles
Iron Horse Trail Construction – I noticed when driving down County Line Road in Kettering this week that some construction on this trail is being accomplished by the City of Kettering. As many of you know, the Iron Horse Trail starts in Beavercreek at the far Western end of the Creekside Recreation Trail where it turns North to go on to Eastwood MetroPark. If you turn South and cross over Linden Avenue you are on the currently 3.7 mile trail that ends at the corner of Research Blvd and East Patterson Road.

It is planned that a trail be paved along the North side of County Line Road across East Patterson Road and then past Shakertown Road to just past the Ohio Army National Guard Armory at 2555 County Line Road to meet with the new construction. Unfortunately the connection between current end of trail and the new construction on Countyline Road will not be accomplished soon.

The new construction is just beyond the Armory in a small wood between it and the Bella Vista Hall. The trail travels due West to enter State Farm Park in the City of Kettering. More details will be provided as well as new photos on the website as construction is finished.

Website Changes and Improvements

Little Miami Scenic Trail (Milford to Little Miami Golf Center) Revised - Due to the help of Mr. Mike Mueller and Mr. Dave Dumbacher I have new pictures of this 4.4 mile extension South of the Little Miami Scenic Trail. I have updated the webpage and replaced all the pictures with new ones of the trail.
Ellis Park Spur Complete- I rode it last week and it looked done to me. I have updated the webpage with all new photos. Ellis Park has new parking, a restroom, water, a pond and several picnic shelters.
Miami Valley RailTrails Website Exceeds 1 Million Hits - For the first time in June 2006, this website exceeded one million hits a month! I want to thank my loyal readers for making this website so popular. Click on the link to be taken to my Statistics Page where you can see the growth in popularity of the website over time.
Xenia to Yellow Springs (LMST) Page Updated - I photographed parts of this trail again. I wanted to show you the alternate route from James Ranch (access via the Creekside Trail) to Yellow Springs. This way you avoid riding on sidewalks in downtown Xenia from the Station North to Shawnee Park where the multi-use trail actually begins.
Trail Use Statistics webpage in Work - I have started on building the webpage I told you about last month. This new page will show the raw statistics that I have received by the county parks departments who have been collecting data using infrared counters. I am embarked on encouraging all of our local county parks departments to purchase and install counters on all the trails. Then using the collected data studies can be performed to determine the actual usage of our trails. At the same time the Economic Impact of these multi-use trails on our communities can be calculated. Once I get this page validated by those who have provided the data, I'll make it available to you.

Photos Wanted Section

Simon Kenton Trail – On the Simon Kenton Trail page (Page 1) there is a photo of what was the “Pedal Power” ice cream shop. It closed a year or two ago and now I understand that it has been torn down.

“This tape will self destruct is 30 seconds. Your task, Mr. Phelps, should you choose to accomplish it, is…”

The task for one of my readers who rides the Simon Kenton Trail is to photograph, the location at 3393 Urbana Road, the location of the former ice cream shop and send me a couple of digital images, not larger than 1Mb. I will give complete photo credit for whoever provides a photo.

This task was taken on by Mr. William Helfrich. He took and sent me four good photos of what has become of what once was "Pedal Power". Now it's an out of business used car lot. A big "Thank You" to Billy!

Did You Know Department

Dayton Daily News Publicity on Miami County Trails- On 6 July 2006, DDN Staff Reporter Ms. Nancy Bowman, interviewed Mr. Robert Shook, chairman of the Miami County Bikeway Task Force for publication. Her article titled; “Bike Trails winding their way to completion” is provided here and on the Trails In Miami County webpage for your reading pleasure. See my Trails In Miami County for more information.

Announcements of Upcoming Cycling Events
(Also See Events Page )

Nothing new this month

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 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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