Miami Valley RailTrails Newsletter February 2010

Miami Valley RailTrails Newsletter
February 2010

Dear Friends: It’s Monday 15 February 2010. I have some trail news for you. We've been having some real Winter here in Dayton and as I write this there is about a foot of snow on the ground with blinding sunshine. Please read on for news of the Miami Valley.

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

Bridge Street Bridge over Wolf Creek Recreation Trail to Be Replaced – Construction will start soon to replace this bridge, which has been closed for about three years. The old bridge will be replaced with a new one that will be constructed about 150 yards East of the location of the current bridge. The new bridge will connect Philadelphia Drive to James H. McGee Blvd. The trail at this point is on the sidewalk next to James H. McGee Blvd. The trail goes by the South end of the Bridge Street Bridge. How construction will affect cyclists is yet to be determined.
I-675 Pedestrian/Cyclist Bridge Gets Engineering Funding – This proposed bridge will connect Beavercreek from the Fairfield Mall, across I-675 to Wright State University received funds to let a contract to accomplish th3 engineering of the bridge. It is expected, if all funding can be obtained, that this bridge will be built in 2014. To see the Request For Proposal Click Here and look at page 37 of the document or search for (GRE-675).
Riverscape Bike Hub To Be Completed Soon – Five Rivers MetroParks started construction on the new Riverscape Phase III in 2009. To see the latest news on the construction project Click Here (or above). Five Rivers MetroParks would like your opinions about the new Bike Hub which is a part of the new construction. Some of what it will contain are secure bike storage, showers and lockers which provide a central location for downtown commuters going to work or play. Please take a minute and Click Here to take the short survey. It won't take you very long, and the information is important to them.
News from Friends of Little Miami Scenic Park - The “Friends” outline their 2010 plans in their latest email message which can be accessed by clicking on the link above or Click Here. They are also looking for volunteers for various tasks.

Website Changes and Improvements

Paul Laurence Dunbar Connector (AKA Wolf Creek Recreation Trail in downtown Dayton) – I explain above about the Bridge Street bridge replacement. I have added an another “Construction Alert” to the page with an aerial view of the bridge area so you an get a better idea of the location of the trail and the bridge.
I-675 Pedestrian/Cyclist Bridge – I added the information mentioned above about engineering construction planning for the bridge.
Approved Multi-Use Trail Projects – I continually update this page that tells my readers on one page, What is Being Funded? and What is to Be Built? and When will it be Built ?

Photos & Information Wanted Department

None this month

Did you Know Department?

Rails To Trails Ranks States for Trails – The Rails To Trails Conservancy reported on the status of railtrails in the United States. Ohio had a respectably 79 trails with 771 miles of completed trail. They also reported that Ohio had 35 trails in work with 256 miles of trail being built. If you look at the chart, we are not doing too badly. Only seven states have more completed miles of trail; Iowa, Washington, New York, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan. Interestingly enough, my records show that the Miami Valley has 327 miles of completed trail or 42% of the total. Please see my Miami Valley RailTrails page for details.

Announcements of Upcoming Events

See Upcoming Events Area

Adventure Summit at WSU Student Union - This annual event, co-sponsored by Five Rivers MetroParks and Wright State University will be held the evening of Friday 5 March and Saturday, all day, 6 march 2010 at the Student Union. I will be presenting at 11:15AM – 12:15 PM on Saturday. The talk is titled: Everything You Always Wanted To Know About the Bike-Trails in the Miami Valley. I’ll also be handing out copies of MVRPC’s excellent Miami Valley Trail Map while I answer your questions about current trails, future trails and generally “What’s Going On in the Valley with regard to trails”.

See my announcement about the event from my January 2010 newsletter below.

The Adventure Summit 5-6 March 2010 - Five Rivers MetroParks will have their annual Adventure Summit at Wright State University's Student Union on Friday 5 March from 5PM - 9PM and Saturday 9AM - 5PM again this year. I have attended all of them and I highly recommend this event to you. There will be information on every sort of outdoor activity from walking, bicycling running, canoeing, kayaking to trekking and mountain climbing to name a few. Click on the link above or on the logo at left to access their website to select the activities you'd like to learn about!

Webpage of the Month

Every month in this portion of my newsletter, I link to one webpage (or the beginning page of a group of webpages that refer to one trail) in this space. I do this so that my readers, who may not have ever seen that webpage get an opportunity to find it (and perhaps find some use of it).

Trail Maps Page - On this page are all of the maps that I have on the webpages for each trail gathered in one place for your use. As you can easily see, many of the maps are copyrighted by Five Rivers MetroParks, Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission, Greene County Parks and the like. Others work with Google Earth to provide with a tool for bike trail use.

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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