Yay!

Alum Creek Trail Suspension Bridge near Wolfe Park is complete and open!

 

 

Columbus is looking for input on Bike Plan

 

The City of Columbus is hoping lots of people will add their voices to this year’s update of the Bicentennial Bikeways Plan. The first opportunity for participation is an online survey, which is up now and will be available through this weekend.

 

Link is: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CbusTransportation

Columbus is looking for community votes on new bike rack designs.  Vote for your favorite:  http://www.columbus.gov/planning/publicart/bikeracks.aspx

Update on Alum Creek Trail construction via Columbus Dispatch:

 

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/04/28/project-will-link-alum-creek-trail-next-year.html

Cycling Alum Creek Trail - 2014 Construction - Columbus Ohio

 

Alum Creek Trail to Scioto Trail connector update including construction around and under I-71

I really did not see a good spot for this, but wanted to know if you have tried this on your longer rides? It works for me but wanted some feedback.

 

Scioto Trail - Boat House to Scioto Hilltop Connector Bridge - Columbus Ohio

 

This ride along the Scioto Trail in Columbus Ohio is from the Boat House restaurant to the Scioto Hilltop connector bridge. This video includes the new ¾ mile section which was opened back in November 2013.

 

So yesterday for the third time this year, I was almost hit by another cyclist heading north thru this underpass. I realize you want some speed to get up the next hill, but be aware there are others out there so slow down.

 

 

Anyone else almost hit or actually hit here?

For those who wonder why Blacklick Creek Trail is not connected, I asked around and got a few answers!

 

Cycling Westerville - County Line Road Bike Bridge update. Did they make the end of May deadline?

 

If you have not seen the Bike Depot in Westerville, you should.

 

Is it just me or am I seeing a pattern of bike bridges running late?  I know the one on Blacklick Creek Trail going over US33 was more than 6 months late, then the Suspension Bridge on Alum Creek Trail (Wolfe Park area) was to be completed in September and ran 6 months late, and now I just filmed the one above in Westerville going over County Line Road was due by May and is not nearly complete.  Who is holding these people accountable for not meeting the expectations that these construction groups agreed to?  I am sure there are more examples as theses came to mind, but my other question is why set a deadline if there is no real penalty if it is not met?  I guess I don't want to hear excuses, just results.

Easton – Alum Creek Trail construction begins (6/15/14)

 

I was riding by Easton and decided to go back to the corner and they have started the construction process.

 

If you have not taken a short ride along Hoover Reservoir, its an easy ride and from Inniswood Metro Garden up to County Line Road is about 3 miles.

 

So apparently even Easton has this bike share thing going on...

 

Easton Launches Free Bike Share Program

 

 

Easton Town Center announced yesterday the launch of a new bike share program for the 1,300 acre area through a partnership with Boston-based bike service provider Zagster. The system includes 22 bikes parked in six locations spread throughout Easton at offices, hotels and shops. The new program quietly launched on May 22nd and has seen approximately 200 rentals since its debut.

 

More below:

http://www.columbusunderground.com/easton-launching-free-bike-share-program

Recent flooding along Alum Creek Trail:

 

 

and here:

 

 

 

Latest on the Camp Chase construction

 

 

Camp Chase Trail thru Roberts Pass Trail to London Ohio - Ohio to Erie Trail

 

How to find the eastern starting point of Camp Chase Trail

 

Is it just me or am I seeing a pattern of bike bridges running late?  I know the one on Blacklick Creek Trail going over US33 was more than 6 months late, then the Suspension Bridge on Alum Creek Trail (Wolfe Park area) was to be completed in September and ran 6 months late, and now I just filmed the one above in Westerville going over County Line Road was due by May and is not nearly complete.  Who is holding these people accountable for not meeting the expectations that these construction groups agreed to?  I am sure there are more examples as theses came to mind, but my other question is why set a deadline if there is no real penalty if it is not met?  I guess I don't want to hear excuses, just results.

 

^ I don't know if this is part of the Westerville bike trail delays you were talking about previously.  But I came across this recent story in the Westerville ThisWeekNews:

 

ALUM CREEK TRAIL - SHARON WOODS TRAIL CONNECTOR

Construction bids too high; project will be rebid

By ANDREW KING, THIS WEEK NEWS

Wednesday, July 9, 2014 - 12:47 PM

 

After receiving five bids for its planned connector between the Alum Creek and Sharon Woods multi-use trails, Westerville City Council was forced to reject all of them as too costly.  All five of the bids were at least $100,000 more than the city budgeted.  A bid of about $526,000 was the lowest, for a project engineers had estimated would come in with about $409,000 as a base bid.  The most expensive of the bids was about $560,000, and each bid included alternate additions that would add another $13,000 and $36,000 to the project cost.

 

The planned connector would be a 4,000-foot asphalt multi-use path that would run between the two trails.  The contract also would include the installation of a 60-foot wooden pedestrian bridge, bus shelter relocation and other improvements. ... The new section of trail is to go through property owned by Mount Carmel St. Ann's Hospital, which provided an easement to make the cross-through possible, and Franklin Country Metro Parks is partnering with the city on the project, paying half of the costs.  The Sharon Woods trail is in Sharon Woods Metro Park.

(. . .)

The Parks Department's original timeline for the project was to have bidding occur in May, and construction happening by the end of the summer.  But with the rebidding process set to occur during the final quarter of 2014, the construction timeline now is unknown.

 

MORE: http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/westerville/news/2014/07/08/alum-creek-trail-sharon-woods-trail-connector-construction-bids-too-high-project-will-be-rebid.html

Bike riders soon to see completion of Alum Creek Trail

By Lucas Sullivan, The Columbus Dispatch

Tuesday, July 15, 2014 - 6:06 AM

 

Next spring, bicyclists will have an unbroken and scenic route from Westerville to Downtown along the Alum Creek Trail.  Last night, the Columbus City Council unanimously approved $6.2 million to finish 1.25 miles of the path, which will then make the trail, at 22 miles, the longest continuous bike path in Central Ohio.  The Righter Co. of Columbus will begin work next week.

(. . .)

The connection of the northern leg of the trail, which starts near Hoover Reservoir, to the southern leg, which runs below the Outerbelt, will cut through the scenic east side of Ohio Dominican University’s campus. ... The trail will tie into Westerville city trails up north and will link with the Blacklick Creek Trail to the south and on to Pickerington.  It’s also a primary route for the section of the 330-mile Ohio-to-Erie Trail that runs through Columbus.  The connecting section of the trail will include five bridges. 

 

Bicycling is booming in the city, thanks to bike lanes on roads, rental bikes and more paths.  City officials hope the completed Alum Creek path will ease some congestion on the Olentangy Trail, which also runs north/south but along the Olentangy River.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/07/14/City_will_complete_final_1.25_miles_of_Alum_Creek_Trail.html

Here's a map showing the two construction points to complete the Alum Creek Trail.  Columbus City Council approved funding this construction project yesterday (see the above story):

 

In intro I put together for Cycling Central Ohio

 

Update:  Olentangy Trail and Goodale Street Construction in Columbus Ohio

 

Thanks for all those trail construction posts, CE.  It's great to get updates on these projects.

 

I had some posts from 2013 (now a couple of pages back) about the Olentangy Trail to Goodale Street connecting ramp HERE and HERE.  Your latest video did a great job showing the construction progress taking place there.  Compare the below graphic of that project with CE's video posted above:

CU: First of CoGo Bike Share Stations Installed, Memberships Now On Sale

 

Mayor Coleman was there to lead last week's kick-off event.  Below is a photo of the Mayor leading the first group of CoGo bike riders to the docking station installed outside of City Hall:

 

 

The City of Columbus CoGo Bike Share program is celebrating its first anniversary with a big sponsorship announcement.  CoGo Bike Share has landed a five-year, $1.25 million sponsorship deal from Medical Mutual that will help support the bike share’s operations.  The City of Columbus paid $2.3 million to bring this bike-sharing program here last summer.  That city funding covered the initial equipment costs, start-up costs and operating expenses for the first year. 

 

This five-year, $1.25 million Medical Mutual sponsorship deal will cover CoGo's operating expenses not covered by subscription and user fees.  More about this sponsporship announcement from the local media:

 

http://www.columbusunderground.com/cogo-lands-1-25-million-grant-from-medical-mutual

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/blog/2014/07/medical-mutual-sponsoring-columbus-cogo-bike-share.html

 

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/07/11/Bike-sharing-program-gets-sponsorship.html

Have you been on Troon Trail in Worthington Ohio?

 

Going past the end, you can get to Dublin as well as the Columbus Zoo from Antrim Park and the route will be up soon.

 

A "Bike" view of Alum Creek Trail - Suspension Bridge to Three Creeks - Columbus Ohio (unedited)

Cogo is hinting at an upcoming expansion on their facebook page,

 

"COMING SOON! We've been listening. Be on the lookout for some exciting news about our stations."

 

That was posted alongside a link to their "suggest-a-station" page which has been sourcing ideas from the public for the past few months on where to put new bikeshare kiosks,

 

http://suggest.cogobikeshare.com/page/about

A 'Bike View' - Scioto Trail - Boat House to Fountains - downtown Columbus Ohio

 

Alum Creek Trail closed at 104 for bridge work. Looks closed for a while. I will show you why.

 

Cogo is hinting at an upcoming expansion on their facebook page,

 

"COMING SOON! We've been listening. Be on the lookout for some exciting news about our stations."

 

That was posted alongside a link to their "suggest-a-station" page which has been sourcing ideas from the public for the past few months on where to put new bikeshare kiosks,

 

http://suggest.cogobikeshare.com/page/about

 

No new locations yet. But CoGo is expanding three popular station locations.  From CU:

 

CoGo Bike Share Expands Three Popular Station Locations

By Walker Evans, Columbus Underground

August 18, 2014, 9:41 am

 

While you spent your time relaxing this past weekend, the team at CoGo was busy working.  The local bike share system upgraded three of its most popular station locations to add a bit of extra bike capacity to the system as the first phase of a larger expansion plan occurring this year.

 

Four additional bike docks were added to stations located at Schiller Park in German Village, next to the White Castle at Second and High in the Short North, and next to the Victorian Village Giant Eagle at Neil and Buttles.

 

MORE: http://www.columbusunderground.com/cogo-bike-share-expands-three-popular-station-locations

I have two things today:

 

A 'Bike View' - Blacklick Creek Trail - Three Creeks to Groveport - Columbus Ohio

 

 

And

 

The CAC discussed the Olentangy Trail at a special session last week:

 

http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/clintonville/news/2014/08/18/cac-backs-efforts-to-widen-trail.html

 

You know whats really cool? Once you get into Groveport there, hang a left on Blacklick St., ride it 'til it ends in Blacklick Park then get on the trail that's in there. It's not paved last I checked, but you can ride almost to Canal Winchester on an abandoned Interurban grade. Or you can hang a right on Blacklick and follow the in-street tracks to another abandoned grade and take that to Hendron Rd.

Yeah, I rode it.  Takes you right past Lock 22.  Great place to stop and check it out.

Scioto Trail Closure Alert:

 

The Scioto Trail will be closed on Monday, August 25th all day. The contractor will be working from about 7am to 5pm, mainly to bring large structures across the trail using trucks and a crane. Signage will be placed on the trail at points near Grandview Ave and the Post Office indicating the closure, with physical barriers closer to the area of work. Work is subject to weather, but Monday is the only anticipated day for the closure.

 

- Metro Parks Greenways

Three things for today:

 

A 'Bike View' of Scioto Trail - Hilltop bridge to Boat House - Columbus Ohio

 

 

&

 

The 5th Annual Steve Barbour Memorial Tour is Saturday, August 23rd at Glacier Ridge Elementary in Dublin, OH.

This is a beautiful, fully supported, memorial bicycle tour

Kick off is at 08.00 am so please be respectful and be early. We will take a moment to remember Steve and all those we ride for.

http://outdoor-pursuits.org/Steve.Barbour See Columbus Outdoor Pursuits for details

 

&

 

There has been in arrest in Tuesday's fatal bicycle crash in Lancaster. http://www.lancastereaglegazette.com/story/news/local/2014/08/21/man-arrested-accused-killing-bicyclist/14379425/

 

The groundbreaking ceremony for the Alum Creek Trail at Ohio Dominican University with Mayor Michael Coleman.

 

A ‘Bike View’ – Alum Creek Trail – Easton to Westerville – Columbus Ohio

 

A ride from Easton Soccer Fields to Westerville using the Alum Creek Trail in Columbus Ohio. There are a few shots of the construction area at the start of the video at Easton.

 

 

 

Blacklick Creek Trail - Why an unfinished section?

 

Between Pickerington Ponds and Blacklick Park is an uncompleted section under Norfolk and Southern railroad tracks. I will explain why it is not completed even though discussion have gone on for years.

 

Last I have on this that the two holdouts on the board are gone, but nothing more has been done (not that there aren't enough Columbus projects right now).

 

Two things:

 

A 'Bike View' - Connector between Alum Creek & Scioto Trails using I670 - Columbus Ohio

 

 

&

 

A great article:

 

Why General Motors wants to put 19,000 tech employees on bicycles

 

http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-general-motors-bicycle-sharing-20140826-story.html

 

Once the construction connects Alum Creek Trail at Ohio Dominican and also at Easton, this is what you will see. I start at Brittany Hills Trail Head parking just north of Ohio Dominican on Sunbury, head north till I hit the boardwalk at Innis Park and show some of the construction happening at that end.

 

Here is the video of what you can expect to see on the trail from ODU north. One of the bridges is coming along, there are a few bogs, a future boardwalk, and where the bridge will cross Alum Creek up north again. Was a muddy walk today!

 

Yesterday, I showed you ODU side of the Alum Creek Trail construction update and today is the Innis Park to Easton as a walk thru.

 

Today's ride is from Three Creeks Confluence area down to the Log House in Groveport using the Blacklick Creek Trail. Round Trip is under 10 miles. Restrooms at both ends as well as shelter houses. There is a nice lake behind the Log House to explore too. If you want to go a little farther, you may want to check out Lock 22.

 

Check out a bike view of Columbus' newest Trail - Mudsock Trail.

 

 

For those who want to see another perspective of Mudsock Trail - Franks Park to Spindler Dog Park.

 

There were some hopes from this report at http://www.columbusunderground.com/bike-lanes-coming-to-fourth-and-summit-third-streets-bw1 that Third and Fourth Streets in downtown might get some physically separated bike lanes when the streets are resurfaced in 2015.

 

Well, this update from CU at http://www.columbusunderground.com/protected-lanes-not-part-of-new-plan-for-bike-lanes-downtown-bw1 is less rosy.  Third and Fourth will be getting bike lanes (along with Long and Spring Streets).  But they'll be a combination of painted bike lanes, signs and sharrows instead of physically separated lanes.