Miami Valley RailTrails Newsletter March 2008

Miami Valley RailTrails Newsletter
March 2008

It’s Saturday 15 March 2008 and Boy! did we get a snowstorm last weekend! Here is the news about trails in the Miami Valley. Please read on.

Trail Construction and Improvements.	Website Changes and Improvements
Photos & Information Wanted Section	Did You Know Department
Announcements of Upcoming Cycling Events	Webpage of the Month

Trail Construction and Improvements

Monument Street Bridge to Be Replaced – I was informed that the Monument Street Bridge in downtown Dayton over the Great Miami River and, more importantly to cyclists, goes over the Great Miami River Recreation Trail on both banks, will be replaced starting March 2008. The new bridge will be under construction for about 18 months (until about September 2009) and cost about $16.5 M. The detour is as follows:
West Side of River
Bikeway will be closed in the vicinity of Riverview & Forest. Bicyclists will use the stairs at this location to access Riverview Avenue. They will travel along Riverview/Edwin C. Moses to the Edwin C Moses Bridge over Wolf Creek and use the stairs to access the bike path again.
East Side of River
Bikeway will not be accessible off of Veterans Parkway. Bicyclists will proceed on Veterans Parkway, across the Washington Street Bridge, northwardly along Edwin C Moses Boulevard/Riverview Avenue to the stairs at Riverview & Forest. Bicyclists will then use the stairs to access the bike path.
The contractor will be posting detour signs along the route. Signs are probably already up.
Austin Pike Relocation Project – I attended the meeting Thursday 6 March 2008. I was able to talk with some of the development staff. In last month’s newsletter I thought that this construction was a part of the Miami 2 Miami Trail. WRONG ANSWER! In other words, I got my trails confused. The Miami 2 Miami will start in Hamilton and go east from the Great Miami River Recreation Trail to the Little Miami Scenic Trail. This trail has been planned for some time by MVRPC. They are planning to connect the Great Miami River Recreation Trail at Crains Run Nature Park to the Little Miami Scenic Trail near Spring Valley or Waynesville. This trail will take years to complete. The current construction that will begin in 2010 relocates about one mile of Austin Park Road North from Washington Church Road to Springboro Pike. Then ODOT will build a new interchange at Austin Pike and I-75 which will include a bicycle trail, protected from traffic by a concrete barrier. Eventually the trail will be extended East along Austin Pike to Wet Social Row Road into Centerville and then East again to connect with the Little Miami Scenic Trail in Bellbrook (if the proposed trail goes North) or Waynesville (if the proposed trail runs South). In any case this trail construction will take a long time. But when it is complete, we will have an East-West corridor through the Southern portion of Montgomery County.
See Yahoo Maps to see the Dayton Wright Brothers Airport and Austin Pike just North of it. Follow Austin Pike East and you'll see it become West Social Row Road and then East Social Row Road as it runs East to connect to Clyo Road at the Greene County line. At that point the trail could go North to connect with Bellbrook, which is going to be connected to the Little Miami Scenic Trail in 2011. (See Approved Projects Page)
Centerville-Washington Parks District gets $10,000 check for Iron Horse Trail - The K&G Bicycle Shops on behalf of Bikes Belong coalition based in Denver Colorado, presented a check for $10K to Centerville-Washington Parks District to help them in the construction of the Iron Horse Trail that is scheduled to be built this year in Centerville from I-675 North through Iron Horse Park and ending up at Hempstead Station Road (border of Kettering) for a total of 1.9 miles.

Website Changes and Improvements

Great Miami River Recreation Trail - I updated several pages with Construction Alerts
- Island MetroPark to Stewart Street Bridge - the Monument Avenue Bridge is being replaced smarting March 2008.
- Stewart Street to Crains Run Nature Park - the Stewart Street Bridge is being replaced starting June 2008.
- Paul Laurence Dunbar Connector - a part of the Wolf Creek Recreation Trail. The Paul Laurence Dunbar bridge is being replaced and will finish December 2008.
History Page Updates - I received more data on the trails development in the area and have been updating the History page.
Trail Usage Statistics - I have updated my Trail Usage Statistics page with 2007 data. I still don't have all of the data for 2007 but the use of our trails is up (as expected). As we connect more trails; that is, when trails "Go Somewhere" I expect to see usage jump.

Photos & Information Wanted Department

None this month.

Did you Know Department?

Who Are You Going To Call? (Not Ghost Busters!) – I had an email from a writer recently who was on a Montgomery County Trail and had an incident. It wasn’t life threatening, but he didn’t know who to call. He did call 911, but didn’t get the result he wanted. So I called Five Rivers MetroParks and the other Parks Districts in the area and asked. “Who do you call if you have an emergency or other problem on a trail in our area? I got information that I am going to share with you. Depending on the county, you may be asked to call the Park Rangers or 911 (to have a Ranger call you back) or just call 911 (for those counties who have few or no Park Rangers). Please See and Print my webpage (Who Ya’ Going To Call). You can fold it up in your wallet or put it on your bike in your bag and if you have a problem on a trail, (AND you brought along your cell phone) you’ll know who to call.

Announcements of Upcoming Events

See Upcoming Events Area

Bike With A Ranger- Yes! That’s Right! This Summer you and your children can bike with a National Parks Ranger. See my Events Page for more information and to download a brochure
Street Smarts – Chuck Smith and Dan Carrigan, local cyclists and certified trainers for the League of American Cyclists will conduct a training course on making your ride on a street safer for you. See the Events Page where you can download a brochure (and order form) for this course which will be held on Saturday 5 April and Saturday 12 April, 2008.
Comprehensive Local & Regional Bikeway Planning Meetings – As many of you know, the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission hired a bicycle planning contractor; Alta Planning, last year to build a new Comprehensive Short and Long Range Bicycle Plan for Montgomery, Miami and Greene Counties. They will be holding their latest public meetings at the following times and places.
If you are at all interested in what MVRPC is planning to do for you and your bike, I recommend you try to attend one of these meetings. If you'd like to see Alta Planning + Design's Draft Plan for the Miami Valley click on the link and download the plans. They will be discussed at the meetings below. Public comments will be taken until 5 April 2008. Click on the link at the top of the page that says: "Contact Us" and send your comments to MVRPC.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008
10:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Troy City Hall (Lower Level Conference Room)
100 S. Market Street
Troy, OH 45373

Wednesday, March 19, 2008
4:00 PM to 7:00 PM
Fairborn Senior Center (Great Room)
325 North 3rd Street
Fairborn, OH 45324

Thursday, March 20, 2008
1:30 PM to 4:30 PM
MVRPC Center for Regional Cooperation
1100 West Third Street
Dayton, OH 45407
Troy Classic Bicycle Races (19 July 2008 Troy) - It's not too soon to think about attending Troy's bicycle races. I'll have more data about it on the Events Page as I get it.

Webpage of the Month

Great Miami River Recreation Trail - This month's featured webpages are those dedicated to the trail that, when completed, will be over 90 miles long from Shelby and Miami County (in the North), through Montgomery County into Butler, Warren and Hamilton counties. To see the extent of the build and planned trail see the Miami Conservancy District's Plan A Bike Trip webpage.
- Montgomery County - On this website I have seven webpages for the trail (and connecting trails) in Montgomery County. On this page I have the web links to both Miami County (North) as well as Butler, Warren and Hamilton counties (South).
- Miami County - Moving North into Miami County, I have nine webpages dedicated to the existing and planned trail that will start on the border between Montgomery and Miami Counties just North of Taylorsville MetroPark.
- Butler, Warren & Hamilton Counties - The Great Miami River Recreation Trail extends South through Franklin and is being extended through Middletown and Hamilton to end at Fairfield. I currently have five webpages dedicated to the trail in this area with more being added as trail is built.
As you can see this trail occupies 21 webpages of this website and is growing. Take a look at the Great Miami River Recreation Trail

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 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

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