In Dayton and Xenia, bike hubs offer users restrooms, water refills, bike repair stands and tire pumps. Beavercreek and Yellow Springs Station are among area communities also offering restrooms and water along their trail networks.
But Springboro will be the first to establish a local hub network, according to regional trail network officials.
“There aren’t any communities in the Miami Valley with more than one hub facility; they are spaced pretty evenly along the regional trails network,” Matt Lindsay, manager of environmental planning for the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission, said in an email.
“The SPARC and Gos add the availability of cell phone charging, which is a first in our region, to my knowledge,” Lindsay added.
The hubs are part of Springboro’s plan to establish a 60-mile, $1.2 million trail system for cyclists, walkers and runners. SPARC is an abbreviation of Springboro Area Recharging Center.
Each site is to feature cell-phone charging stations, bike parking, air pumps and repair racks, as well as a warm, dry place for people caught in a storm or seeking shelter during an emergency.
“It’s kind of a refuge,” Springboro City Manager Chris Thompson said. “The community’s gaining a mobility that they didn’t have before.”
The original SPARC and Go, in the Rotary Park on South Main Street (Ohio 741), will open for the season on April 1. It cost about $400,000 to purchase, design and construct, officials said. It will also serve as a substation for the local police.
The second hub, north of Central Avenue (Ohio 73), at 510 N. Main, is expected to open later this year and feature short walking trails. Later locations include Clearcreek Park on Lower Springboro Road and two yet-to-be-determined locations, probably near the Austin Boulevard development and on the city’s Northeast side.
While designed to enable Springboro residents to move by bike or on foot across routes and around the city, officials hope the local network will draw regional foot and bike traffic to Olde Springboro and other parts of the city.
“We’re so close,” said Steven Dickey, chairman of the city’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, which meets next at 5 p.m., Monday, at Springboro City Hall. The committee is part of efforts to develop events and educate residents, heightening awareness of the trail network.
All four hubs are to carry the SPARC and Go name and design scheme to help users grow accustomed to the locations. The network will travel along blended trails on roadways in areas designated by signs and pavement markings. It is also designed to hook into systems from adjoining communities.
Time will tell how much the community uses the network and the SPARC and Gos.
“We really won’t know until the weather shifts. I know people are excited about it,” said K.C. Rose, a resident, cyclist and manager at Bike Shop 1919, just blocks south of Rotary Park.
Rose commutes from his nearby home, while his co-worker, Dan Campbell, pedals in from Dayton. Another new spoke in the regional network will run between the Austin Landing development, just north of Springboro, and the Great Miami River.
“As a cyclist, I’m hoping that what’s happening in Springboro is contagious to other communities,” said Rose, who moved back to the area from Westerville, another bike-friendly community.
The Ohio Kentucky Indiana Regional Planning Commission is coordinating a similar network, with connections to the Miami Valley, through Lebanon and Middletown in Warren and Butler counties, into northern Kentucky and eastern Indiana.
Officials estimate public investment of more than $50 million in development of the Miami Valley network, already spanning 330 miles and growing.
“It’s becoming noteworthy,” Rose said. ‘When I was in Columbus, people were talking about Dayton.”
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