Miami Valley RailTrails Newsletter
May 2004

Hello MVRT Members - It's 28 May 2004 and I have trail construction news for you. Last month I gave you details on the planned trail construction in Montgomery, Miami, Clark , Champaign and Greene Counties. This month we'll talk about Warren County and other issues. 

• Great Miami River Recreation Trail  (In Warren County) I have been informed by the Miami Conservancy District that the extension of the Great Miami River Recreation Trail South along the Great Miami River from Crains Run MetroPark (most Southern park in Montgomery County) to just South of Franklin in Warren County,  will be bid on in August of 2004 with construction in 2005. This will extend the trail South an additional 3.2 miles. The Conservancy has called this 18 mile extension of the trail to Hamilton, in Butler County The Great Connection.   The long range plan is to extend the trail South to the Ohio River and by running a trail East along the Ohio River connect with the Little Miami Scenic Trail that is also planned to be extended to Cincinnati.
  
  
• T-Connector  -  Some years ago it was planned to connect the Mad River Recreation Trail which now ends at Eastwood MetroPark to Huffman MetroPark in Montgomery County. This 2.5 mile trail extension is funded and will be completed in 2007. At Huffman MetroPark a construction has been planned called the T-Connector to take the trail over (or under) State Route 444 into the Wright Brothers Memorial to connect to the Wright Brothers Bikeway. The T-Connector is fully funded for construction by the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT). I have been calling around to find out when the T-Connector will be built. It would be nice if Five Rivers MetroParks which is building the Mad River Recreation Trail extension and ODOT, who is building the T-Connector can get both finished in 2007. More on this later.
  (Added 1 June 2004)
  I spoke to U.S. Congressman Dave Hobson's office to get more information about this vital connection. Their representative  said: "I contacted the Ohio Department of Transportation this past Friday (5/28/04) and as I understand it, the project is on track and slated to be completed by FY 07. I hope that helps." 
  
  
• Ohio Bicycle Events Calendar - Every year the good people at the Ohio Bicycle Federation prepare a wonderful calendar of all bicycling events in Ohio. The link will take you to their site where you can order a printed copy (small donation requested) , peruse the web version or download an Adobe Acrobat file copy. 
  
  
• Madison County -    Mark your calendars! The Cedarville to London section of the Ohio To Erie Trail  will be dedicated on Saturday 26 June 2004! I don't have the time and other details as yet but check the Friends of Madison County Parks and Trails Website  where they will be posting details.
  
  

• City of Kettering   (added 5/30/04) Last October (October 2003) I reported to you that  Five Rivers MetroParks got a $230,000 Clean Ohio Trails grant to extend the Creekside Recreation Trail South one mile  from its' current end at Woodbine Avenue to cross Woodman Road in Kettering and end at Spaulding Road. I was told recently that when the trail is built this year it will connect at Spaulding Road with a pre-existing 10' sidewalk that carries the trail another mile to County Line Road where Kettering ends and Beavercreek begins. Kettering is starting to talk to Beavercreek towards expanding the trail South to Research Boulevard (SR 835) . Eventually the City of Kettering would like to expand the trail South to reach Delco Park in Kettering. 
  

   

• Revision to website-  You may remember that I have posted on my website reviews of other trails in other parts of Ohio; Reviews of Ohio RailTrails  that kind folks have sent me.  (Since removed). Many of the articles were written over the past few years by Peter Medek  whose Cycling Ohio Trails & Bikeways has a lot of good information on it. Also on the page mentioned above I have also included bicycle trail reviews by Glenn Oster who has ridden some great trails outside of Ohio and even outside the USA!. I had to add a separate page for Glenn Oster's Rail Trail Reviews.  Why I am telling you this is Glenn sent me some more reviews recently of The Suncoast Trail , The Pinellas Trail and the Ormond Scenic Loop all in Florida. Please see Glenn's updated page. I may get some pictures for the articles later from Glenn. 
  
  
  

• Support to Ohio Senate Bill 80, Ohio House Bill 350 In a previous newsletter  (August 2003) I told you about the Ohio Senate bill that would limit liability for lawsuits from trail users. It would seem that the bill passed the Senate and is now in the House as Bill 350, I think. Anyway if you'd like to write your Ohio Congressman to support passage of the bill, see the link above. Anything we can do to make the construction of new trails easier and cheaper for the developers is to be encouraged!

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, pass the information on to your friends and neighbors who might enjoy our wonderful system of multi-use trails in Southwest Ohio. They are wonderful for walking, running, roller bladeing, birding and cycling and in some cases horseback riding . You see more wildlife from one of our trails. 
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