Sunday, June 27, 2004
New section of trail opens on riverfront
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By Ari Bloomekatz Enquirer staff writer
Walking along the Ohio River or riding a bicycle to downtown
Cincinnati has become more enjoyable with the opening
Saturday of another section of the Ohio River Trail.
The new section of the trail is 4,000 feet long and runs
along the riverfront from Corbin Street, near the Schmidt
ball fields and boat ramp, to Delta Avenue.
The trail cost around $750,000 and is part of a plan to
build a 22-mile hiking and biking trail from Coney Island to
Sayler Park. Four other sections have been built - including
in Sayler Park, the Lunken Bike Trail, Bicentennial Commons
and a trail at the new Theodore M. Berry International
Friendship Park.
Columbia Tusculum resident Ben Wetherill said he works
downtown and often bikes from his home rather than driving.
But he doesn't enjoy biking on Eastern Avenue, a main link
to downtown.
From 2000 to 2002, Wetherill served as president of the
Riverfront East Trail Association. The group held monthly
meetings and worked to include trails in the city council's
agenda for riverfront and downtown development.
The group's ideas began to materialize when councilman Pat
DeWine made a motion in 2001 to build a route from Lunken
Airport to downtown by 2007, Wetherill said. Project
organizers predicted that it would cost $13 million to build
that stretch.
During Saturday's unveiling, DeWine said the route was
important to help keep residents in Cincinnati and stem
population loss.
The segment that opened Saturday took two years to build,
said Jim Coppock, a city engineer helping to oversee the
trail's creation.
The next step is building a half-mile path from Wilmer
Avenue to Carrel Street, Coppock said. More than $1 million
in federal funds has already been secured to build the path,
which is expected to be finished within three years.
Interest in trail building in the city dates to the 1970s,
Coppock said. Passage of a 1991 federal transportation act
boosted funding.
A couple of obstacles, including some railroad crossings,
are preventing connection of the entire trail. But the rest
is a matter of funding, he said.
A sign along the new segment shows distances to destinations
organizers hope to connect with bike paths. Lunken Airport
is two miles away, the Purple People Bridge four miles, and
New Richmond 17 miles.
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