XENIA REGIONAL BIKE TRAILS
XENIA - JAMESTOWN CONNECTOR
About 13.5 miles of this trail are open to the public. It heads east from Xenia through Jamestown and then the Fayette County line. Plans call for a trail extension from Xenia Station to Washington Court House.
LITTLE MIAMI SCENIC TRAIL
Greene County Parks controls about 15 miles of this 70 mile trail. The southern branch runs from Milford and beyond. The northern branch goes from Xenia to Yellow Springs and then to Springfield.
CREEKSIDE TRAIL
The trail follows Shawnee Creek in the Xenia area and the Little Beaver Creeks in Beavercreek. It goes into Dayton and Kettering.
OHIO TO ERIE TRAIL
This statewide corridor connects the Ohio River to Lake Erie. Locally, it follows the Little Miami Trail north from Newtown to Xenia.
Information taken from Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission and Greene County Parks and Trails
Better utilizing and marketing the bike trails managed by Greene County Parks and Trails is noted throughout the preliminary draft of the city’s comprehensive growth plan, known as the X-Plan.
It is one of several issues from the developing plan the financially-strapped community is reviewing.
Better capitalizing on the system — first developed in the 1990s — was mentioned time and time again during a recent community workshop about the X-Plan attended by about 30 people.
The words “Bicycle Capital of the Midwest” are sprawled across the Xenia’s water tower and many in the biking community say the title is still correct. The city has been recognized nationally for its bike trials.
Xenia Councilman John G. Caupp said biking should be incorporated into major community events like the Xenia Community Festival.
“Now we are in competition with other cities,” he said.
The city is going directly to bikers for help.
The city surveyed bike riders at this year’s Greene Trails Cycling Classic, asking among other things what would make them want to venture into the city.
Tim Walker and his wife have participated in the classic, which is based at the county fairgrounds, for four years. The four-day event wraps up today following a self-guided tour on the Little Miami Scenic Trail to Yellow Springs.
“It is one of the best places for riding bike trails in the county,” Tim Walker said, noting that bicyclists eat at Xenia area restaurants and shop at local stores when possible.
He and his wife have also been in Xenia for stops during 3,000-rider Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure.
“The people put on the a good event,” he said.
County parks and trails director Chrisbell Bednar said about $400,000 are spent annually to maintain the trails.
She said system is a recreation tool that has potential to be an even greater economic driver.
According to Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission’s 2009 Miami Valley Trail User Survey the annual impact of the region’s 200 miles of trails is as much as $15 million.
About a million people a year use the 62 miles of trails Greene County Parks District manages.
From signage directing bikers shops, to bike lanes to bike racks in front of merchants, Xenia resident Nimfa H. Simpson, an avid biker and the a retired city planner, said many things can be done to enhance the biking experience in Xenia.
“We need to be aggressive with that. We really need to seize the opportunity to be a Bike Friendly Community like Dayton has,” she said. “We have the elements already.”
Darryl Sheets Dayton and Jim Christan of Kettering became friends about three weeks ago after meeting at Xenia Station.
“Ninety-eight percent of the people biking on the trail will speak to you,” he said.”You just strike up a conversation with strangers.”
He said his business naturally picks up when there are bike events in town, but so does business at other shops and restaurants close to the trails.
The X-plan calls for more paths connecting the trails to Xenia neighborhoods. Construction will start next month on the $325,800 improvement project of the bike path near the intersection of Detroit and Third streets — an entry point to downtown — to Xenia Station.
It includes enhanced decorative lighting and a pedestrian plaza. About $58,000 in city funds were used. The rest of the money came from grants.
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