Union City Gateway in Ohio and Indiana

Trail Plan - Union City is on the border of Ohio and Indiana. It is in Darke County Ohio and also in Randolph County, Indiana. It was announced that a trail would be built across the Ohio-Indiana line in 2006 (See Union City Wins Gateway To Ohio Grant November 17, 2006).
I attended a meeting of the Ohio/Indiana Greenway Connector Steering Committee in Union City, Indiana 15 August 2007. The meeting was chaired by the Rails To Trails Conservancy Midwest Chairwomen; Ms. Rhonda Border-Boose. The meeting was to coincide with a ground breaking ceremony attended by Ohio Governor Ted Strickland and Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels. Unfortunately, both of them could not attend at the same time. so a dedication ceremony with both governors is planned for the trail's completion.

Why Is This Trail Important? - The Union City Gateway which, when completed, will be about a mile long, and is planned to be finished in 2007 or possibly early 2008. Why is this trail so important? This trail is the first one to cross the Indiana and Ohio borders. It marks the beginning of cooperation from the trail developers in Ohio and Indiana. The Union City Gateway will connect to:

Ohio/Indiana Greenway Connector Steering Committee - This committee of interested parties in the Western Ohio counties such as Darke, Preble, Miami, Montgomery and Mercer counties as well as the Eastern counties in Indiana; Wayne, Delaware, Randolph, Grant, Blackford, Jay and Henry. This group with representatives of both Ohio's and Indiana's rails-to-trails movements, was started to promote connectivity from Western Ohio to Eastern Indiana. It is chaired by Rails To Trails Conservancy Midwest Chairwomen; Ms. Rhonda Border-Boose. This webpage will serve as a meeting place for members of the Steering Committee. Minutes will be posted here as well as information about the Committee's progress.
Organizations attending the 15 August 2007 meeting included:

Click on photo for larger image	These photos will show you generally where the Union City Gateway will be located. The trail is on both sides on State Line Road which you can see running North to South in this Google Earth image. If you click on it you can see the park to the East of State Line Road, just North of East Main Street (Ohio State Route 571). which will be used as part of the trail. See also Yahoo Maps (Union City). You can see where the old railbed is located and you can manipulate the map to see all of the proposed trail.

Here we are looking East across State Line Road, at the park in Ohio that will be used for part of the trail (see above).	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	In this photo, we have turned to the West. to see the Indiana side of State Line Road. As you can see from the photo here and above, a "Union City Gateway" sign is prominent. The building behind the sign is the Rite Aid drugstore in town. The trail may go either North of South of the building depending on the company

In this image we have turned around to the East again to show you a larger photo of the park and trail in Union City, Ohio that will be used as a part of the Gateway.	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	As a part of our meeting in Union City, 15 August 2007, we took a walking tour of the proposed trail. That is how I took these pictures. The people you see here represent a number of organizations in Ohio and Indiana who are working hard to build a trail for your riding pleasure.

From State Line Road we walked West and crossed both North Columbia Street and North Howard Street to reach the old Union City Depot that you see here. The depot is now property of the Art Guild. The trail will go by the Station to the West.	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	In this photo we are looking west from the Depot, alongside the high-speed CSX tracks that go through the Village. The railroad signal you see in the distance is the crossing at South Walnut Street.

The photos above attempt to show you where the Union City Gateway will be located. As construction gets started and is finished, I will replace these photos with construction photos and then pictures of the finished trail.

Trail Plan	Trail Photos	Why is this Trail Important?
Ohio/Indiana Greenway Connector Steering Committee