Federal grant to help kick-start Ohio River Trail West development

The proposed Ohio River Trail West was recently awarded over $1 million from a federal congestion mitigation/air quality grant, which along with $261,000 from the city’s bicycle program and other funds will go toward completing Phase I. The ultimate goal for the trail is a 20-mile off-road bikeway and greenway that connects Smale Riverfront Park downtown to Shawnee Lookout in North Bend, as well as an eight-mile loop around Shawnee Lookout.
 
These initial funds will be used for much of the 3.7-mile portion of the trail extending from the Evans recreation area near Lower Price Hill and around the Gilday-Riverside recreation complex.
 
“Lower Price Hill is on the threshold of exciting things,” says Tom Croft, co-chair of River West Working Group.
 
Work on the new Sixth Street viaduct was recently finished, which reconnected Lower Price Hill with the surrounding area. Oyler School, which is a pre-K through high school learning and community center, went from having an 85 percent dropout rate to having an 85 percent high school graduation rate. Plus the Incline Theater next to the Incline Public House is on track to be completed by summer.
 
River West Working Group, which deals with matters of land use that affect the western riverfront and the nearby greenspaces, is interested in the positive developments along the river, including industrial, transportation and recreational developments.
 
“As development has progressed along the western riverfront, it became clearer that there were recreational assets on the west side, and that there was no real link among them,” Croft says.  
 
A western riverfront trail as been part of public policy since 1969, says Dave Zelman, co-chair of River West Working Group. In 2008, the organization decided that it was important to start somewhere and adopted the Ohio River Trail West as one of its major projects.
 
“The river is the city’s greatest asset and is a key to commerce, recreation and a way of life,” Zelman says. “Our vision is to refocus on the western riverfront and provide multiple new opportunities for vibrant uses, including working, living and playing, in a way that makes the area a regional attraction.”
 
The Ohio River Trail West could eventually link to trails that run north up the Great Miami River.