Miami Valley RailTrails Newsletter July 2010

Miami Valley RailTrails Newsletter
July 2010

Dear Friends: It’s Thursday 15 July 2010 and I have some trail news for you. 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

New Miami Valley Recreational Trails Map - I attended a meeting recently chaired by Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission (MVRPC). They are the organization that funds roads and bridges as well as supplying much of the funding that goes to build our trails. In 2005 MVRPC, with the help of all the city and county parks departments in the area issued a Miami Valley Recreational Trails Map . In 2008 it was expanded and updated with all trails built by 2008 and all trails that were expected to be completed by 2011. We met to discuss the new map that should be released at the Five Rivers MetroParks Adventure Summit which will be held March 2011. It will contain all trails and trail amenities built by 2011 and those planned to be built by 2014. This map has been wildly successful. If you don’t have one you are missing out. Click Here or on the above link to get one. To judge the popularity of this map consider this:
- In 2005 MVRPC printed 15,000 copies of the map.
- In 2008 MVRPC printed 50,000 copies of the map (two printings)
- In 2011 how many maps do you think MVRPC will print?
Ohio To Indiana Trail (Update) – The Trails Task Force in Miami County has for some time been planning a trail from Urbana West through Piqua and Greenville to end connecting at Union City, OH where the Union City Gateway connects to Indiana. I have begun to call this development the Ohio To Indiana Trail. As a part of that construction the Darke County Parks District and the Darke County Parks Commissioners awarded a contract to the Walls Brothers Asphalt Contracting This will pay for at least 1.8 miles of trail from Gettysburg at Bridge Street East on the railroad corridor towards Bradford. It will end about 800’ from the Bradford-New Harrison Road. From there the Parks District plans to use “Share the Road another 1.4 miles to reach downtown Bradford. While the paving should be done this year, the trail is planned to reach downtown Bradford by 2011.
Taylorsville MetroPark to Tipp City ( Also See: Great Miami River Recreation Trail) – At long last the contract to build the connecting link from Montgomery County to Miami County on the Great Miami River Recreation Trail is signed. The $1.577 M contract will build the trail the 2.5 miles from Taylorsville MetroPark (Five Rivers MetroParks) all the way to Thomas B. Kyle Park (Tipp City Parks). Construction should start this Summer 2010 and will be finished not later than 30 June 2011. I have updated my Approved Multi-Use Trail Projects page (which shows the status of contracts of all Miami Valley Trails projects) and my Trails in Miami County Page (which has links to all completed trail sections), which has information about the status of all of the trails in Miami County.
Riverscape Phase III Opens- Bike Hub in downtown Dayton – The new Riverscape opened in July 2010. Of interest to cyclists is the “Bike Hub” building. It includes outside coin operated bike lockers. Inside for members are lockable bike lockers, showers and personal lockers . The Bike Hub goes a long way towards encouraging cyclists to ride their bicycles to work in downtown Dayton.
Beavercreek Station Almost Completed - The City of Beavercreek has almost finished construction of Beavercreek Station alongside the Creekside Trail where it crosses under North Fairfield Road. It will provide parking, water and indoor restrooms for users of the Creekside Trail. It is planned to be dedicated at the end of August 2010. Its construction was greatly aided by a $100K contribution by local businessman Mr. Kris Joshi.
Great Miami River Recreation Trail Construction – Dayton Daily News had an article titled Little York Road detour coming as bridge work begins, that said that the trail at Rip Rap Road in Huber Heights would have a detour while Montgomery County repairs Little York Road between Brown School house Road and Rip Rap Road as well as rebuilding the bridge over the Great Miami River. The article went on to say that traffic on the trail would be maintained via a detour and that once the construction is completed the trail will revert to its current location. The construction will start in August 2010, and will be closed about four months.
New Bicycle Signs in Springfield - A group composed of the city of Springfield, National Trail Parks and Recreation District, the Clark County Transportation Coordinating Committee and the Great Springfield Friends of the Trail and area donors combined to raise the $14K needed for 50 new signs on the trails in Springfield. These signs are of the standard design being used by Montgomery, Greene and Miami counties. Madison County is planning to use the same sign design on the Prairie Grass Trail in Madison County. Click Here or above to read the article.

Website Changes and Improvements

Updated Prairie Grass Trail Pages – I attended a meeting in London, Ohio last weekend at the invitation of the Friends of the Madison County Parks and Trails (FMCPT). They invited all of the “Friends” groups in the area to have a bike ride and start to share information about supporting “Their Trail”. While I was in London I took pictures of the updated Prairie Grass Trailhead behind the Senior Citizens Center in London. I replaced the old photos with new ones on two of my Prairie Grass Trail pages.

Photos & Information Wanted Department

None this month

Did you Know Department?

Little River Café in Oregonia reopens in July - As many of you know, the Little River Cafe, a popular cyclist hangout in Oregonia burned down last year. I have it on good authority that the Cafe is almost fully rebuilt and the owner; Mr. Mark Burris, will be re-opening the Cafe this July. I understand that there will be a new menu and a larger bar. Click Here to see a recent Western Star newspaper article on the Cafe's reopening.
Friends of Trails Meeting held in London, Ohio – On Saturday July 10th. the Friends of Madison County Parks and Trails (FMCPT) chaired a meeting which invited all local Friends Groups to discuss ideas for better supporting our trails. They sponsored a slow ride in London followed by lunch at Perkins Restaurant. I was invited to participate. Among the others who attended were the Friends of the Little Miami Scenic Park, Greater Springfield Friends of the Trail, the Dayton Cycling Club as well as other cycling clubs. Mike Michaels the President of FMCPT welcomed the group. Future meetings will be held to cross-fertilize each group to the things the others are doing to support their trail. The organization will make an effort to encourage other friends groups be established to support the trail in their vicinity. I will be adding a webpage to support these friends of the trails organizations.

Announcements of Upcoming Events

See Upcoming Events Area

Nothing New

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).

Table of Contents Page - (AKA Site Map) - It might seem prosaic that I recommend the website's Table of Contents for the Webpage of the Month. But a organized list of the pages within a website can be very useful when you are not sure of where to look for content. The other name used for websites; that is "Site Map" is a good descriptor as well. My page contains information you may not find elsewhere. On the left side of the page are all of the trails I have pages for in alphabetical order (some of them as yet un-built). The page gives you additional information such as; "What are the sections of this trail" (with links to them) AND "What trails is this trail connected to?" (including links). On the right side of the page, are the lists of contents in the other drop-down menus at the top of the Home Page; Resources and Other Links with their contents. You see if you click on the title of one of the drop-down menus you are taken to a page which has a lot of more information about the contents of the drop-down menu. Try it!

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

Return to Join Our Mailing List

For more information on each Web Page or Trail click on its name.

HOME PAGE

Darke County Trails | Greenville Creek Trail | Bradford To Gettysburg Section | Ohio To Indiana Trail