by Larry Lagarde

Earlier this week, I wrote about a proposed extension to the Little Miami Scenic Trail. The day after I posted the story, I came across the Ohio Dept of Transportation's bike page and was amazed at the number of trails that ODOT has been working on. As the adjacent map shows, the outlook is even more exciting for long distance cyclists because many of these bikeways are connected, allowing a cyclist to ride cross country (and to adjacent states) mostly on paved routes where cars are forbidden.

Take a look at this list of Ohio bikeways that are under construction or have recently opened. Forgive me (not) but it's really long...

OHIO BICYCLE FACILITIES UNDER CONSTRUCTION in 2008:

CLARK Co., Springfield - Work is underway on the replacement of the Sherman Ave. Bridge over Buck Creek. Those following the Buck Creek Trail shared the old bridge with other traffic: the new bridge includes a bikepath.

FRANKLIN Co. - Construction of a new bridge across the Olentangy River, south of Antrim Park (Worthington), will connect the Scioto-Olentangy Bikeway to residential areas east of the river. A gravel path allows trail users to pass the construction site.

LICKING Co., Heath - a path is under construction east of SR 79, along Irving-Wick Drive. Its completion will connect Hoback Park to the City Pool and points west of the state highway.

SUMMIT Co., Akron - Work is underway on Cascade Locks, part of the Towpath Trail. Work includes a tunnel under Rand Rd. and a bridge over SR 59. The project ends at the Quaker/Ash intersection in Akron.

SUMMIT Co., Akron - Construction of a towpath underpass at Waterloo Road, near the south edge of Akron, has begun.

SUMMIT Co., Barberton - Work has begun on the Towpath Trail between Vanderhoof and Snyder Road, including work on a bridge over the Tuscarawas River. This connector will likely be a two-year construction phase.

BIKEWAYS RECENTLY OPENED:

Northwest Ohio
ALLEN Co., Lima - A tunnel opened in August, 2007 and takes the Ottawa Creek Bikeway under the intersection of Pine and Elm Streets in downtown, Lima.

LUCAS Co., Oregon - Construction of the 1.9 mile connecting path between Pearson Park and the City’s Municipal Complex is complete, as is the 1 mile long path from the Municipal Complex to Corduroy Road.

LUCAS Co., Engineer - Two projects were completed in August, 2008, adding 3.6 miles of paved trail to the system. Now all paving on the South Fork of the Wabash Cannonball is complete within the county.

Northeast Ohio
CUYAHOGA Co., Cleveland Metroparks - The Mill Creek Trail, a 2.5 mile connector between the Towpath Trail at Bacci Park and Mill Creek Falls Overlook, near Garfield Blvd. and Bancroft Ave., was completed at the end of October, 2007.

CUYAHOGA Co., Seven Hills - West Creek Trail is a path built along-side the creek between Broadview Rd. and Crickett Lane. Work finished the end of November, 2007.

GEAUGA Co., Chardon - The southern portion of the Maple Highlands Trail opened in September, 2007. The path runs 8.2 miles from SR 44 just outside the Chardon city limits to East Branch Reservoir, on SR 44 near Middlefield.

HOLMES Co., Killbuck - The section of trail from Killbuck to Millersburg opened in early December, 2007. It is a combined buggy/bike path, and the trail is now 15 miles long, from Killbuck to Fredericksburg.

MEDINA Co. - The Chippewa Rail Trail was extended from Chippewa to Wycliff Road in 2007 and is 2.4 miles in length.

PORTAGE Co. - A 1.1 mile extension to the Portage Bike-Hike Trail was completed between Horning Road and Loop Road, in the vicinity of Dix Stadium.

SUMMIT Co., Akron - Work on Cascade Locks, part of the Towpath Trail, was completed south of the intersection of Quaker and Ash, to Bowery/Water and State Streets in downtown Akron.

SUMMIT Co. - The Towpath Trail was extended 3.5 miles north of Clinton, and now ends at the Vanderhoof Road trailhead.

TUSCARAWAS Co. - A bike/ped bridge was built to carry the Towpath Trail over I-77 between Bolivar and Zoar. It was completed in September, 2007.

Central Ohio
FAIRFIELD Co., Lancaster - A 5 mile extension allows riders to travel 8 miles from O.U. Lancaster to Cenci Park on the Fairfield Heritage Trail.

FRANKLIN Co., Columbus - The Livingston Ave. to I-70 to Three Creeks Park section of the Alum Creek Bikeway has opened, allowing uninterrupted travel from Three Creeks Park to Airport Drive (near Ohio Dominican College).

MADISON Co., London - The Roberts Pass segment of the Ohio to Erie Trail, open but unpaved for awhile, was paved and opened in early December, 2007. Roberts Pass’s east end is at Wilson Rd., near Lilly Chapel.

UNION Co. - the Metropolitan Park District of Columbus and Franklin Co. now has an 11 mile path inside the Glacier Ridge Metropark, on Hyland Croy Road.

UNION Co. - The 3-mile-long North Lewisburg Trail opened in June, 2007 between East Street in North Lewisburg and Inskeep Cratty Road. Project includes a small-scale covered bridge.

Southwest Ohio
CLARK Co. - A spur between the Simon Kenton Trail (at Villa Road) to a new county park.

GREENE Co. - The Huffman Prairie Bikepath, stretching from WPAFB gate 16B to Marl Road is under construction until Oct. 2007.

HAMILTON Co., Anderson Twp. - The Five Mile Road shared-use path, which stretches from State Road to Clough Pike, then continues on to Newtown Road following an undeveloped right-of-way, was completed in September 2007.

MIAMI Co., Troy - Completion of the Island Trail Bikeway in September, 2007 extends Troy’s path system to 10.5 miles.

MONTGOMERY Co. - A segment of the Great Miami River Trail is being built on the west shore between Triangle Park and Rip Rap Road.

WARREN Co., Mason - The Muddy Creek Bikeway is being constructed between Mason-Montgomery Road and Pine Hills Lake Park. Work includes a bridge. Work should finish around 11/1/07.

Not to be outdone, even cities like Columbus are getting into the act. Look at all the facilities that they're working on right now...

Columbus Ohio Bikeway Improvements Underway:

Olentangy Trail
*Repair a flood prone section @ mile 9, just south of Bethel/Antrim area.
*Re-stripe the centerline of the path, along faded sections, from Antrim to downtown.
*Continue adding new directional/regulatory signage along the path. Add new COG trail head map kiosks.
Re-do the Northmoor path entry. Remove bollards and hazards, etc.
*Repair a serious riverbank erosion slip just south of Antrim, threatening to take out the trail
*Henderson Road bridge: This is a big project, involving the entire season. The path will remain open, through an orange barrel work-around on the south side. This improvement will construct a new 10' wide path on the bridge deck, completely replacing the dangerous narrow walk there now.

Scioto Trail
*Clear brush and debris back from the path from the Confluence to the Utilities Complex @ 910 Dublin Road

Alum Creek Trail
*Repair the Broad St. underpass railing
*Re-do the path entry steps @ Watt Rd., Strawberry Farms Park
*Finish trail signage project, including directional/regulatory and trail head maps.

670 Path
*Fix the Leonard Ave./670 bridge situation--install new ramps, fix the hazardous bridge joint gaps, remove obstacles and fix hazards near the Nelson Rd. overpass. (This will at least address the hazardous conditions. We will have to phase in improvements, this path will be a section of the Ohio-to-Erie, and a major east/west route, and we need to put it into good shape. Please bear with us.)

Given all the revenue produced for the federal government by the oil fields off the coastline of my home state (Louisiana), I wish just a small fraction of those funds could be directed to La's DOT for such a bikeways push. Louisiana is an excellent place to ride year round but long distance cycling here is a dicey prospect. Funds for roadway repairs are inadequate so many highways are either in disrepair or have inadequate shoulders.

Thanks go to fellow cyclist Jamie Fellrath for the head's up on improvements in Columbus and for his inspirational blog (Bike Commuting In Columbus).

Labels: Ohio-bikeways