A key piece of the Scioto Trail is scheduled to be completed this fall, connecting an isolated section of the trail that runs from Fifth Avenue to Grandview Avenue to the main Downtown section of the trail that currently dead-ends across from the water treatment plant on Dublin Road. The new section, which will feature two bridges and travel across a grassy peninsula adjacent to I-670, will also allow cyclists to travel from the Hilltop to Downtown via the recently-completed Hilltop Connector bridge.
Brad Westall, Greenways Planner for Columbus Recreation and Parks, said that weather will likely determine the exact date that the trail is completed and open to the public, but to expect a ribbon cutting some time in November. The project is being funded by the Ohio Department of Transportation.
“This is one of the most important trail projects in Ohio,” said Westall. “It is literally building a connection point between the Ohio trails network to the south (Cincinnati) and the north (Cleveland). Opening this path will tie in residents from Upper Arlington, Grandview Heights, Marble Cliff, and the entire west side of Columbus into a well-developed regional trail network. Although short in length, this segment opens up miles of Scioto Trail to thousands of residents.”
As for what’s next, Westall said that 2014 should see work begin on the Fifth Avenue to McKinley extension of the Scioto Trail, which will bring the trail across the river at Fifth Avenue and provide trail access to the 8,000-plus residents and workers on the west side of the river. The long-term plan also includes extending the trail up the Scioto to Griggs Resevoir.
Also, later this year the city will begin work on the first leg of the Camp Chase Rail Trail, a 3.5-mile straight-line through the west side that will eventually connect up to the Big Darby Metro Park and to the Ohio to Erie Trail running southeast to Cincinnati.
More information can be found online at publicservice.columbus.gov/bikeprojects.
Photo by Walker Evans.