Not only bikers will benefit
Proposed trail would link Lunken, downtown
BY STEVE KEMME | [email hidden]
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Before the sun rises, George Marketos pedals his 12-speed road bike 15 miles to
work.
On his daily route from his Anderson Township home, he rides on Beechmont, Salem
and Kellogg avenues, heads west on Riverside Drive (formerly Eastern Avenue),
turns up Collins Avenue to William Howard Taft Road and proceeds to the
University of Cincinnati's College of Applied Science, where he works as an
associate professor of mathematics.
For 27 years, Marketos, 60, has adjusted his working hours so he avoids the
hazards of biking in morning and afternoon rush-hour traffic.
He looks forward to the day when he can spend much of his commute riding safely
on the proposed five-mile hike/bike trail from Lunken Airport to downtown
Cincinnati.
"It would give me more flexibility in the times I get to work," Marketos said.
"Now I leave home at 4:30 in the morning and get to work at 5:30. It would be
nice to get to work at a more normal time."
Although bicyclists would be the most obvious beneficiaries of the trail, its
supporters say it would have a positive impact on other people as well.
Besides giving eastern neighborhoods and suburbs better access to the city's
riverfront and the proposed Banks development, the trail could promote good
health, stimulate residential development and provide another tool for
recruiting young professionals to the city.
No one can say for certain when this bike trail along the Ohio River will be
built.
Because the permanent route has more financial and logistical obstacles, a
temporary trail using abandoned railroad tracks could be built years earlier
than the permanent one.
With the blessing of Cincinnati City Council, the nonprofit Ohio River Way is
working on establishing the temporary bike route, while city staff focuses on a
permanent route closer to the riverbanks.
The privately funded temporary route would cost $5.4 million to $6 million. The
publicly funded permanent route would cost $18 million to $20 million.
Stabilization of the riverbanks could wind up costing more than the trail
itself, said Gary Wolnitzek, a principal of Human Nature Inc., a landscape
architectural firm that is working for the city on the permanent bike trail.
"But if stabilizing the riverbanks encourages redevelopment, it would be worth
it," Wolnitzek said.
Ohio River Way plans to raise the funds for the temporary trail next year,
complete the engineering and begin construction in 2009 and open the trail in
the spring of 2010.
The Lunken-to-downtown trail is part of the planned Ohio River Trail, which
someday may extend 150 miles from Madison, Ind., to Maysville, Ky.
In the Cincinnati area, only two one-mile portions are finished - from the
Theodore M. Berry International Friendship Park to the Great American Ball Park
and from just west of the Schmidt Recreation Complex on Riverside Drive to the
new Riverview East Academy on Kellogg Avenue.
The temporary bike trail eventually could be displaced by the construction of a
proposed light rail line, one of the key components of regional plans to improve
transportation in the eastern portion of Greater Cincinnati.
"We're anxious to get the temporary trail done," said Rick Greiwe, co-chairman
of Ohio River Way. "We think it's a relatively modest investment to get 10 to 20
years use out of it."
Bikers would enjoy two different route options while the two trails coexist, he
said.
"The temporary trail is straighter and could be the express lane to downtown,"
Greiwe said. "The river trail would meander more and be more recreational."
The Hamilton County Park District, which would build and operate the temporary
Lunken-to-downtown bike trail, is negotiating a lease agreement with the
Southwestern Ohio Regional Transit Authority to use the abandoned railroad
tracks, which SORTA owns.
Ohio River Way has hired an engineering firm to estimate the cost of building
the temporary trail.
"We want to nail down the cost," Greiwe said, "so we have a fundraising goal
that's realistic and comprehensive."
The timetable for building the permanent hike/bike trail could be longer if the
city decides to divert about $2 million in federal funding from the trail to the
construction of a bike/pedestrian bridge over the Little Miami River. The bridge
would help the Ohio River Trail connect to the Little Miami River Trail, said
Eileen Enabnit, director of the city's Department of Transportation and
Engineering.
Tim Burke, an attorney who rides his bike daily between his Mount Lookout home
and his downtown law office, said he sees more bicyclists than ever in
Cincinnati.
"The Little Miami Bike Trail has been hugely successful," said Burke, who is
chairman of the Hamilton County Democratic Party. "It indicates how popular a
part of an urban environment bike trails can be."
Burke said he'll be glad to ride a bike trail downtown just to avoid the
annoying motorists.
"Some drivers are just goofy," he said. "They like nothing better than to come
up on your tail and lay on their horn. It scares the hell out of you."
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