The City of Cincinnati plans to hold a dedication ceremony in late May for one of its most recent infrastructure projects: a 1.1-mile bike and walking path that connects the trail at Lunken Field with Schmidt Playfields and Riverview East Academy. The $2.2 million project converts an abandoned railroad spur into a connector for the growing network of paved trails that planners hope will eventually connect downtown with Anderson Township and points to the north, through a connection with the Little Miami Trail.
Two million dollars for a one-mile trail as the city climbs out of a recession; one can hear the budget hawks screaming. But according to officials involved with the project, the connector trail is more than just a luxury for runners and cyclists; it's one piece in a larger plan that is vital to keeping Cincinnati vibrant, healthy and relevant as the nation recovers from the economic downturn.
"It makes a lot of sense to continue investment during an economic downturn," said Cincinnati Director of Transportation and Engineering Michael Moore. "The people who wait until the economy gets better to start are going to be two, three, four years behind the curve." He added that the lengthy process of creating the trail, from identifying the best path to obtaining rights, to working with state and Federal funding sources to raise the money for the project took about four years; this is a project that was well underway when the economy tanked. In fact, he noted, the project created about 50 construction jobs.
The project also creates a much-needed opportunity in the neighborhood, said Tiffaney Hardy, a spokesperson in the Cincinnati City Manager's office. Moore said the city hopes that the trail will provide transportation options for adults as well as children.
"We as a city and department have been trying to create more transportation options for people," he said. "Particularly in these times, when gas is $4, we're trying to create ways people have alternatives to their cars." The goal, he added, is to create infrastructure that makes it just as easy to hop on a bike for the quick run to the store for a quart of milk as it would be to do the same in a car. He says the need is there.
"Since the economic downturn, I've seen more people on their bikes to just get around than I've seen in a long time," he said.
And that plan for a network of safe, convenient set of alternative routes that let people walk and use bikes for transport is part of a much bigger regional picture. John Heilman, technical services coordinator with the
Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments, noted that the new trail connector helps link a central junction in a planned web of rails that stretches east to New Richmond and north through Warren County. The north-south and east-west routes would converge near Lunken Field.
"The city has been making continuous progress," he said, noting that the mile-at-a-time pace is not uncommon as communities build useful urban trail networks. "We have a big grand plan, and we go at it one chunk at a time."
When city officials cut the ribbon on the new connector trail, it may - in and of itself - not seem like much. The mile-long stretch will help kids get much-needed fresh air, and could make it easier for Columbia Tusculum residents to run errands, or at least stretch their legs after work. But as the trail network expands and connects more and more communities along the eastern side of the Cincinnati region, the trail traffic may indeed change: commuters, shoppers and people who choose the pedal over the gas pump may soon get a major boost, as the city becomes increasingly friendly to their needs.
Writer: Matt Cunningham
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