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Bellbrook-to-Spring Valley bikeway on hold for now

Residents wouldn’t allow it to cross their properties

Contributed Photo A project to connect the Little Miami Scenic Bike Trail (above) with Sackett-Wright Park in Bellbrook is not "viable" at this time, according to Greene County officials. The bikeway would have connected Bellbrook to a large trail system.

ENLARGE PHOTO

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By Jeremy P. Kelley, Staff Writer Updated 12:01 PM Wednesday, January 6, 2010

The bikeway that was proposed between Bellbrook and Spring Valley late in 2008 is no longer actively being pursued by county officials, Greene County Parks Director Chrisbell Bednar said last week.

The path would have connected Sackett-Wright Park in Bellbrook with the Little Miami Scenic Trail. However, it would have crossed mostly private property, and the landowners were opposed from the start.

“There was no way to make the project viable,” Bednar said. “We went to the property owners, and all of them, to a one, said ‘not on my property.’ And we have to respect that.”

The Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission ranked the $6 million bikeway as one of its projects recommended for federal funding, and Bednar said it will remain on MVRPC’s Thoroughfare Plan, but in an inactive status.

Bednar said county commissioners will not use eminent domain to take the land, and she said any further negotiations with landowners would have to come from Sugarcreek or Spring Valley township trustees.

At a November meeting, Sugarcreek Trustee Dick King said the township was “between a rock and hard place” — seeing the benefits of the bikeway, but opposing the use of eminent domain. King said the proposed route along Ohio 725, while less scenic, appeared more feasible than a route along the Little Miami River.

But King and township Administrator Barry Tiffany said even that route had major issues, including the possibility of having to buy or relocate some people’s homes.

King is still interested in the project, but Sugarcreek Twp. trustees have not voted on formal action to pursue the bikeway.

“The project still has real value and merit,” Bednar said. “It could help connect the trail systems in Greene County and Montgomery County. But it’s not being pursued right now.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2278 or jkelley@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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