KETTERING

Segment of bike trail set to be finished in early 2010

Pathway would make it easier for pedestrians to get around.

Kim Myers (left) and Lora Albright, of Brumbaugh Constuction, are working on a multi-purpose path for bikers and joggers being built on Hempstead Station Drive in Kettering. This path link, that is being added, is about 3,000 feet.

Ron Alvey Kim Myers (left) and Lora Albright, of Brumbaugh Constuction, are working on a multi-purpose path for bikers and joggers being built on Hempstead Station Drive in Kettering. This path link, that is being added, is about 3,000 feet.

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By Steve Bennish, Staff Writer 10:24 PM Sunday, November 22, 2009

KETTERING — An important leg of the Iron Horse bike trail that will conveniently connect residents to a U.S. Post Office facility, a Meijer, numerous eateries and a Dayton Metro Library branch is under construction and should be finished by February.

The 10-foot-wide multi-use trail is being built on right of way on the western side of Hempstead Station Drive and travels from David Road north to Stroop Road and then turns east to finish at Stroop and Wilmington Pike.

The concrete pathway segment will be 3,000 feet long and offer more ways for people to get around than climbing into a motor vehicle, said Joe Roller, landscape architect for the city of Kettering.

To clear the way for the $280,000 project, the city cut down ornamental trees along the route. A decision on whether to replace them is pending, Roller said.

Coincidentally, Meijer has taken down ash trees on the opposite side of the road. The trees are not now infested with the ash borer, Roller said, so the tree removal is a preventive move.

The trees on Meijer property are being replaced with honey locusts and pear trees.

The trail work is being undertaken by contractor Brumbaugh Construction of Arcanum, Roller said, and is being funded in part by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Kettering is seeking state grants to push the trail north along abandoned railway right-of-way to the city’s Jane Newcom Park and to Delco Park.

Ultimately, a trail separate from motorized vehicle traffic could connect Kettering and other southern suburbs to the University of Dayton campus and from there, to the trail network that runs throughout the region.

Mary Beth Thaman, Kettering director of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts, said grant applications to improve trails and acquire right-of-way will be submitted to the state by Feb. 1. 2010.

“We’re moving along,” she said. The city aims “to connect business centers together.”

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