Great Parks of Hamilton County takes charge of Oasis bicycle trail

 

Great Parks of Hamilton County will build a $13 million bicycle and pedestrian trail along Cincinnati’s riverfront, a key connection that will allow people to ride or walk from downtown Cincinnati to Cleveland almost entirely off streets and roads.

 

The 4.75 mile Oasis trail will run along an easement that the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority has on a rail line that runs from Lunken Airport to Sawyer Point where there are existing trails. Today, to connect to Lunken from downtown, riders have to use an on-street bike lane on Riverside Drive. Once riders reach Lunken Airport, they can connect to the Little Miami Trail, which is a part of the Ohio-to-Erie trail network.

 

A decade in the making, the Oasis trail also will be a part of the larger Ohio River Way trail planned for the riverfront, which someday hopes to extend fromSsoutheast Indiana to New Richmond, and the Cincinnati Riding or Walking Network (the CROWN), a 34-mile loop around the city connecting it and Norwood, Fairfax, Mariemont, Newtown and Anderson Township.

 

Under the agreement, Metro will buy the northern track easement from the Indiana & Ohio Railway and Great Parks will design, engineer, construct and operate the trail through an operating and lease agreement with Metro. The city will partner on Great Parks on engineering and connection.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2024/05/14/great-parks-takes-charge-of-oasis-bicycle-trail.html

 

I love that Metro will be the owner of the RoW. It's still highly unlikely rail ever goes through here (especially with $1M houses on the line), but it doesn't shut the door completely.