Dear Miami Valley RailTrails List Readers - 18 May 2002 and its raining in Dayton, Ohio
There is a lot to tell this month. It's Spring and what happens in Spring is that
folks get their bicycles out of the garage, tune them up and go riding. What else
happens in Spring is that trails start getting built! So on with the news.
New on Miami Valley RailTrails site.
First I'm going to tell you about what is new on the Miami Valley RailTrails site.
I've added two new pages with pictures.
Englewood
Bike Path In the last week weeks Five Rivers MetroParks and the City of Englewood
dedicated the Englewood Bike Path. The trail starts North of the Englewood Dam and follows the Stillwater
River under Interstate 70 to
end in about 2 miles at Jake Grossnickle Park in Englewood. Future plans are to take the trail South down the Stillwater
River to downtown Dayton.
Take a look at the pictures and trail review.
Trail Plans to London,
Ohio A few weeks ago I had reason to be in London, Ohio. London is the next stop on the Ohio To Erie Trail. Currently, the trail runs Northeast from
Xenia Station to Cedarville and South Charleston. The South Charleston section was dedicated last November. It is 9 miles from
South Charleston to London and with luck the trail will be built this year. Take a look at this new page with pictures and let me know what you think about it? I think London Ohio is a very beautiful, small agricultural town
and the County Seat of Madison.
New on other websites. The Miami Conservancy
District has improved their website a lot! They've added two new features that I think you should
know about.
Bicycle
Constructions News In Montgomery County. Since there is a lot of construction downtown on the trails I thought it would be nice to have information about it on some website that
has the current information. The Miami Conservancy took on the task. Check out the Construction News in Montgomery County on
their new and improved site!
Free
Printed Bicycle Maps of Montgomery County. For some time the Miami Conservancy District and Five Rivers MetroParks have been working together to develop a printed map
of the bicycle trails in Montgomery County. They have completed the task and you can get a free bicycle map that will fold to fit in
your bike bag See Bicycle trail maps.
New Trail Construction -Here I get to tell you about what trails are being built
for your cycling (walking, running and rollerblading pleasure)
Miami County Bike Trail News.
First Miami County broke ground for the Miami County Bike Trail. This trail, when completed, will start at the North edge of Taylorsville MetroPark
and will stretch about 20 miles North through Tipp City, Troy and Pique to end at Sydney Ohio. They broke ground at Dye Mill Road and the first trail
segment will go South to Monroe-Concord township line (near Tipp City). They choose that spot to start since there are two locks are located in this
portion of the trail. I'll provide more on this new trail as I get it and will have
a web page on the website once I get some photos.
North Miami Bikeway
To Be Extended Five Rivers MetroParks has been busy as well. The North Miami Bikeway, which currently runs from Taylorsville MetroPark South to the
Soccer fields in Huber Heights, has been extended. The new trail crosses over the new
Rip Rap Wagoner Ford Road Bridge and runs about 1 mile south on Rip Rap Wagoner
Ford .The two trail segments are not yet connected but I understand that bids were opened last week to continue just North of the old overhead structure historic bridge (newly painted blue) to the Soccer
fields. I'll have an addition to the North Miami Bikeway trail web page once I get my pictures back.
New Bike Spur in Beavercreek In the city of Beavercreek I understand the city fathers are planning a bicycle spur from Community Park (Girl Scout’s Park) to Dayton-Xenia
Road at Beaver Valley. The Community Park is on the Creekside Trail and they plan to run the spur north along a small stream North until they
cross the intersection of Dayton-Xenia Road and Beaver Valley Road at the stoplight. They had plans for this year but it looks like construction will happen in 2003. This will make getting on the
Creekside Trail for
Beavercreek residents much easier and safer. Thanks Beavercreek!
As mentioned briefly above the trail from
South Charleston to London may be built this year. With luck Requests for Proposals will go out this
Summer. Perhaps the trail will be built to London by Fall of this year
Other Construction News This is other construction in the area that affects trail use.
New Bicycle Bridge at RiverScape.
Five Rivers MetroParks is building a new bicycle and pedestrian bridge from RiverScape across Mad River to Deeds Point. This may effect your
use of the Mad River Recreation Trail and where it connects to the Great Miami River Recreation Trail. See the Miami Conservancy Districts Construction pages for breaking
information.
Siebenthaler Bridge On the Great Miami River Recreation Trail
down the
Stillwater River the Siebenthaler Bridge over the river has been taken down. There are signs for cyclists to go over
Siebenthaler to get around the construction. The bridge will be finished by 2003.
The Fifth Street Bridge in downtown Dayton has also been taken down.
The Great Miami Recreation Trail on the West bank
will be closed for a year or more. See
the Miami Conservancy District website for ride-around instructions.
Well. That's about all for May 2002.
If this bicycle trail newsletter provides you with information you can use pass it on to a friend. Anyone can become a
member of my mailing list by going to my website at Join Our Mailing List and following the instructions you'll find there. You'll also see my recent articles in
case you missed one.
