Video: Go to MyDaytonDailyNews.com to see video of the new bike trail.
MIAMI TWP. — The 10-foot-wide blacktop winds visitors past wetlands, mature forest, native prairie and a scenic vista on its way to the Great Miami River from the corner of Medlar and Miamisburg-Springboro roads.
The first major segment of a multi-use trail that will eventually link the Austin Interchange retail and business hub near Interstate 75 with the regional bikeway trail system is completed. About all that’s left to do is put up the signs, let concrete dry and cut the ribbon to officially open the trail to the public on Oct. 31.
The segment, which is 2.25 miles long, travels through the Five Rivers MetroParks Medlar Conservation Area, a 416-acre refuge of mature forest and wetlands.
An advance tour of the trail by this newspaper Wednesday shows it was engineered with care so that pedaling uphill is manageable enough with many curves on the steeper parts.
There are deer, turkey, foxes and all variety of birds to be seen. A scenic vista on what is known as Eagle Hill gives a stunning view of the river valley.
By the time a second leg of the trail is finished by late 2014 or early 2015, nature lovers, commuters, and casual bikers will be able to travel through much of southern Montgomery County and Warren County towns and newer suburbs largely without mixing with traffic.
The bikeway along the river travels from Hamilton to Sidney and the entire bikeway system offers 300 miles of off-road connected trail.
Completing this phase of the project is rewarding for Dave Nolin, Five Rivers MetroParks director of conservation. “It’s about connecting people to nature,” he said. “It’s what we do.”
Although it will be two weeks before the trail officially opens, Nolin said he’s already run into one biker who was commuting from Springboro to his workplace in Moraine.
The idea for the trail began in fall 2012 with discussion among MetroParks, the Montgomery Transportation Improvement District, Miami Township, the city of Miamisburg, and RG Properties. The plan used funds from Miami Twp.’s sponsorship of the Austin Landing project. The $1.3 million trail project was bid and awarded to Brumbaugh Construction Inc.
“None of this could be accomplished without local governments working together,” said Steve Stanley, executive director of the Transportation Improvement District.
To complete the connection to Austin Landing, a short connector trail will be built to an existing bikeway on Byers Road. That work could begin as soon as next year and be underwritten with federal funds through the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission.
The ribbon-cutting will be at the parking lot built for the trail close to the souteastern corner of the Medlar and Miamisburg-Springboro roads intersection. An exact time has not been set.
For more details on the region’s off-road trail network, see: www.metroparks.org
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