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Stumbleupon3 bridge projects to halt recreational traffic, too
Great Miami River Recreation Trail will be mostly closed through downtown Dayton.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Extras
Jim Brewer uses a D6 bulldozer on Friday, June 20, to create a road to the base of the Stewart Street bridge. Brewer cut through the Great Miami River Recreational Trail after it was closed at the bridge.
DAYTON — One of the city's major lifestyle amenities — the Great Miami River Recreation Trail — will be mostly shut down through downtown Dayton for the better part of two years because of three bridge construction projects.
On Friday, June 20, construction work began on the Stewart Street Bridge that closed the trails on both sides of the river. The construction is expected to last 18 months.
The trails are also closed just west of downtown by the Monument Avenue Bridge replacement project, which is scheduled to take two years.
And trails are closed on both sides of the Stillwater River at Helena Street by bridge construction for Interstate 75.
In addition, the Wolf Creek Trail is closed about four blocks west of the Great Miami River for replacement of the Paul Laurence Dunbar Bridge, and a 1,600-foot section of the trail is closed in Miamisburg because of erosion from high water.
It's not the greatest timing for promoting the trails, said Hans Landefeld, manager of the river corridor for the Miami Conservancy District.
The district had a detour worked out with designers for navigating around the Stewart Street project, Landefeld said, but the contractor called this week to say they would need more area around the bridge. As a result, Landefeld said, the southbound lanes of Patterson are going to be closed and traffic in both directions will be routed on the northbound lanes. There's just no room for the trail, he said.
Because of all the construction projects, the conservancy, which maintains the trails, has closed the system from Helena Street on the north to Stewart Street on the south. The trail is still open from RiverScape north along the Mad River.
