11
CONNECTING THE
OHIO TO ERIE
Recent major construction highlights
(
From south to north)
•
Four-mile extension of the Little Miami
Scenic Trail, south fromMilford to
Newtown.
•
Creation of the 6.5-mile Roberts Pass
Trail in Madison County, from London
northeast to the county line.
•
Completion of Phases 1 and 2 of the Camp
Chase Rail-Trail, from the eastern end
of the Roberts Pass Trail to Georgesville,
west of Columbus.
•
Construction of a 9.4-mile paved
connection between Centerburg in Knox
County, to the western terminus of the
Kokosing Gap Trail in Mount Vernon.
•
A 6.4-mile extension of the Holmes
County Trail, fromMillersburg to Killbuck.
•
Completion of the Ohio & Erie Canalway
Towpath Trail (Summit section) through
downtown Akron.
•
A 1-mile extension of the Ohio & Erie
Canalway Towpath Trail (Cuyahoga
section) through the Steelyard Commons
in Cleveland.
On the horizon
(
From south to north)
•
The Ohio River Way project to connect
the southern terminus of the Little
Miami Scenic Trail and the Ohio River in
downtown Cincinnati.
•
Completion of the final 4 miles of the
Camp Chase Rail-Trail through Columbus’
west side.
•
Closing the gap between northern
Franklin County and the southern end
of the Heart of the Ohio Trail in Knox
County.
•
Completion of the Ohio & Erie Canalway
Towpath Trail through Scranton Peninsula
in downtown Cleveland.
•
Completion of the Ohio & Erie Canalway
Towpath Trail through the Cuyahoga
River Valley to Lake Erie.
a nonprofit organization that coordinates,
manages and raises funds for trail devel-
opment across the state.
“
I often joke that trails are like potato
chips—I’ve never eaten just one,” he says.
“
Once a trail has gone in, people want to
know, ‘How come we don’t have more?
Why isn’t it finished yet?’ We’ve had all
kinds of development activity going on
along the trail.” Rampelt cites a major
housing project under way along the
trail in Akron and the redevelopment
of downtown Loveland, about 20 miles
northeast of Cincinnati, with bike shops,
restaurants and new stores.
“
We’re moving from ideas and long-
term projections to actual mileage on the
ground, and that’s exciting,” adds Oberg.
“
There’s knowledge in cities now—they
understand the trail’s significance and
how it relates to the kind of communities
they want to build.”
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275
77
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80
75
76
71
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90
90
MILES
0 10 20 30 40 50
O H I
O
Ohio to Erie Trail
Total trail length: 320 miles
Trail surface: Asphalt or
crushed limestone
map illustration
by daniellemarks.com
L
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Cincinnati
Columbus
Mt.Vernon
Centerburg
Xenia
Loveland
London
Akron
Cleveland
cuyahoga
summit
wayne
holmes
coshocton
licking
franklin
madison
delaware
clark
greene
warren
hamilton
clermont
knox
stark
Adding Value
When Don Mills became involved in
pushing for completion of the Little
Miami Scenic Trail, a rail-trail that runs
through five counties in southwest Ohio,
some of his neighbors in the Cincinnati
suburb of Terrace Park stopped speaking
to him. They feared a trail through their
community would cause home values to
decline. A decade later, however, they’re
humming a new tune.
“
People have taken me out to dinner
and apologized,” he says. “They’ve real-
ized I’ve not devalued their house but
actually increased the value of their prop-
erty.” Indeed, a 2011 study completed by
researchers at the University of Cincinnati
showed that for every foot closer a house
is to a trail, its value goes up by $9. In
other words, owners are willing to pay a
$9,000 premium to be 1,000 feet nearer
a trail.
rails
to
trails
u
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