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Missing link in region’s bikeway on track for 2012 construction

$2M approved for trail sections in Dayton and Kettering that will extend south to Centerville.

Map of the proposed bike trail

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By Ken McCall, Staff Writer Updated 10:34 PM Thursday, March 4, 2010

Dayton and Kettering are stepping up their timelines to complete one of the biggest missing links in the region’s bikeways system: a route from downtown to the southeastern suburbs.

The Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission on Thursday, March 4, unanimously approved almost $2 million as early as 2012 for two projects that will hook up with the existing Iron Horse Trail at the northern city limits of Centerville and run north to the University of Dayton campus.

Don Spang, executive director of the MVRPC, said the so-called Southeast Bikeway Corridor is his agency’s top priority, because it’s one of the last remaining gaps in the regional bikeways network.

“It’s also in one of the highest density areas of the region, so it would probably be one of the highest-used bikeway components in our system,” Spang said.

Dayton has requested $1.7 million to reconstruct a bike path that runs on an abandoned railroad right of way along the Oakwood-Dayton border between Shroyer Road and Irving Avenue. Dayton would also construct a short path on the right of way southeast of Shroyer to connect to Jane Newcome Park.

Kettering has requested $264,000 to continue the bike route — mostly on city streets — south to the intersection of Stroop Road and Hempstead Station Drive, where a new section of bike path has just been constructed. Riders will then be able to connect to the Iron Horse Trail, which runs south to Centerville.

Both cities expect to start construction by 2012. The money will be allocated out of federal funds aimed at lowering traffic congestion and air pollution.

Steve Finke, Dayton’s assistant director of public works, said he was confident the city could have designs ready by 2012.

The path is a priority for Kettering, said Assistant City Manager Al Fullenkamp.

A challenge is that while the railroad right-of-way runs all the way through Kettering, the city doesn’t own a lot of it, Fullenkamp said. Trying to obtain the right-of-way sections is a time-consuming and costly process that the city doesn’t want to wait for, he said.

“Our goal right now is to get the connection made,” Fullenkamp said. “If we have to use roadways, we will. Our ultimate goal, though, is to keep working and slowly get more and more of it off-road.”

The city will construct a 1,500-foot section of pathway south from the park along the railroad line to Wiltshire Boulevard. From there, on south to Stroop, the route will travel 2.6 miles on residential streets and will be marked as a “shared roadway.”

The route will come out on Stroop at Mayfield Avenue, and Fullenkamp said the city will construct a 220-foot path east to get to the Hempstead intersection.

To the north, the path will end at UD’s southeastern corner. But the university is committed to extending the path through campus, said Rick Perales, director of campus planning. Engineers are working to determine the best route through campus, he said.

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