Bigger Cincinnati bike trail, deeper impact

$4.9M requested stimulus funds would extend Mill Creek project, create 83 jobs

http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2009/03/23/story14.html

 

Mill Creek restoration advocates are seeking $4.9 million in federal stimulus funds to create the Queen City-South Mill Creek Greenway Trail, saying the bike trail project would spur creation of 83 jobs and have an $8.9 million regional economic impact.

 

The University of Cincinnati’s Applied Economic Research Institute calculated the impact using an expenditure-based research approach, Director Ben­jamin Passty said, so total economic impacts could be higher.

Fantastic!  I love this kind of thing...I do have one question, though:

 

The Queen City-South Mill Creek Greenway Trail would span 3.4 miles along the river, from Mitchell Avenue at the Queen City Centre shopping center to the Mill Creek Road bridge in South Cumminsville. Four trail heads with parking lots, bike racks, signs and furnishings would be developed.

 

I mapped out the route of the Mill Creek between Mitchell and Mill Creek Road here:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2653283

 

...and I only come up with 2.4 miles...any idea where the 3.4 mile figure come from?  That's a pretty big disparity...maybe it's a typo in the story?

 

 

Report: Mill Creek trail could create 445 jobs, $52 million economic impact

 

A fully-completed Mill Creek Greenway Trail could create at least 445 jobs and create a more than $52 million economic impact, according to a new report by the Applied Economics Research Institute (AERI) at the University of Cincinnati.

 

The trail also would provide at least an additional $1.86 million in local tax revenue, said AERI director Dr. Benjamin Passty.

 

Click through for the remainder.

Hamilton County seeks grant to expand Mill Creek greenway trail

Business Courier of Cincinnati - by Lucy May Senior

 

Hamilton County commissioners voted Monday to apply for a $1.5 million federal grant to expand the Queen City-South Mill Creek Greenway Trail.  The county is serving as the applicant and the fiscal agent for the U.S. Department of Transportation’s TIGER Discretionary Grant Program.

 

TIGER stands for Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery. The grant would cover partial costs for engineering design and construction of phases two and three of the 3.4-mile trail, said Robin Corathers, executive director of the Mill Creek Restoration Project.

 

Read full article here:

http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2009/09/14/daily35.html

Mill Creek greenway project wins $500K grant

http://www.building-cincinnati.com/2009/10/mill-creek-greenway-project-wins-500k.html

By Kevin LeMaster | Building Cincinnati, October 12, 2009

 

The Mill Creek Restoration Project (MCRP) has been awarded a maximum $500,000 Clean Ohio Trails Fund (COTF) grant for the City of Cincinnati's Mill Creek Greenway Trail Program.

 

The funding will be applied to construction of the second phase of the 3.4-mile Queen City-South Mill Creek Greenway Trail, to be built between Mitchell Avenue in Spring Grove Village and the Mill Creek Road bridge in Camp Washington.

 

Construction is already underway on the $6.15 million segment, with a 0.6-mile portion scheduled to open next month.

 

The Queen City-South Mill Creek Greenway Trail is part of a larger 13.5-mile trail that would connect the Hamilton County Fairgrounds in Carthage with Cincinnati Riverfront Park, a five-year project expected to cost $24 million to complete.

 

In addition to its recreational benefits, the trail will improve the Mill Creek's water quality, manage stormwater runoff, restore the corridor's habitat and natural resources, and provide a working site for environmental education and training.

 

Plans call for the trail to connect to the existing street network, bike lanes, crosswalks, and bus stops.

 

State Senator Eric H. Kearney (D-9th) announced the award on Thursday.

 

"The Mill Creek program is a worthy investment of state funds," Kearney said. "Cincinnatians certainly have a love for recreation and parks, and this grant is part of a great initiative to improve on the area's natural beauty."

 

A report by the Applied Economics Research Institute at the University of Cincinnati, released last month, estimated that the full 13.5-mile trail could create at least 445 jobs and more than $52 million in economic impact.

 

"This grant will have wide ranging benefits," Kearney said. "From immediate job creation to recreation and health benefits and even increased property values in the long term, the Mill Creek Greenway Trail Program is a natural winner."

 

The grant is one of 26 COTF grants awarded in 2009, and one of two in Hamilton County. The City of Harrison is receiving a $173,215 grant for a 3,800-foot section of the Greater Harrison Bikeway.

 

MCRP is working with local governments to secure funding through the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 to underwrite 80 percent of its future work and is seeking state and local sources to obtain the remaining matching funds.

 

Group has hopes for Mill Creek

By Jessica Brown, Cincinnati Enquirer, November 16, 2009

 

The Mill Creek runs through areas of Cincinnati that are anything but scenic.

 

It winds behind ugly factories, blighted buildings and along railroad tracks in easy earshot Interstate 75 traffic.

 

But the long-term vision for the waterway -and the budding greenway bike trail along it - is beautiful, supporters say.

Performing some threadcromancy because hey, the Mill Creek Greenway Trail is open now!  At least a portion running from Salway Park (by Spring Grove Cemetery) down to just past the Ludlow Viaduct.

 

I went to check it out this morning and was pleased.  Saw about ten other bikers/walkers/runners, and this was all before 8:30 am.  I also saw lots of goldfinches, rabbits, geese and ducks, and even an oriole.

 

The signage, benches, and trashcans they have for the trail are really sharp looking with cutouts of cattail plants.

 

If I have one complaint, it's that it's hard to know exactly the extent of the open trail right now because the Mill Creek Restoration Project's website isn't updated enough.

^ Thanks for this timely update, northsider--this trail will definitely be one to watch!  Hopefully, "word-of-mouth" here will play its part.

Oh my goodness, I took an evening walk on Sunday down to the trail via Old Ludlow, and I saw a blue heron in the creek.  It caught a fish, noticed me, and flew away with its prize to perch in a small tree near the railroad tracks on the other side of the creek!

 

The juxtaposition of the pastoral and the gritty make the trail a pretty unique experience - it's going to be amazing once it extends all the way down to the Ohio.

Well, that segment has been finished for about a half year and more. But there is a gap from the Ludlow viaduct to Elmore Street, and across Mill Creek under I-74 to Mill Creek Road. A new segment has been completed along Mill Creek Road from Spring Grove Ave. to the Mill Creek bridge, but I'm not sure how the city is going to handle the Spring Grove interface. They installed crossing signs quite some time back, but have not put in curb cuts, wider pathways, or much of anything else. It's just a standard width sidewalk with no barriers, which is unsafe and unacceptable. I just hope they don't install the awful "Walk Your Bike" signs like they did along Kellogg for the Ohio River Trail.

See, I didn't even know that it extended past the Ludlow viaduct - the path forked - one fork leading to the sidewalk, the other leading back to the creekbank, but it was gated off. So you're supposed to walk on the sidewalk of Dooley, then take a left onto Elmore and get back on the trail there?  that... doesn't seem very logical.

 

I know they're supposed to put in a bridge for the trail to link up the new section along mill creek road that you mentioned with the rest of the trail.  Hopefully the recent grant money will help with this!

From the inimitable P Casey Coston- http://www.soapboxmedia.com/features/052416-soapdish-mill-creek-toxic-channel-to-genuine-asset.aspx

Yikes, not a post about development along this important trail since 2012, I think the Mill Creek bridge and Millvale section was completed in 2015, but still, it hurts my soul.

 

Well I finally took a ride this year along the trail, after going a number of times last year, and as promised in another thread, took some (phone) pictures. Here's my journey:

 

I started from my house and down picturesque Burns Ave in Wyoming into Hartwell.  Although it is forgotten by the city of Cincinnati, Hartwell has some really neat residential streets. Combine that with the excellent bones that Carthage's business district has, these neighborhoods are the most underrated/underappreciated by the city itself. So much potential.

 

The northern terminus of the trail is tough to get to without a car.  Caldwell Park, as expected was not well maintained, there's trash on the ground or overflowing trash cans every time I've biked here to get on the trail.

 

The northern section was actually in better shape than I thought it would be. The good people at the Mill Creek Alliance must have recently being out cleaning up overgrowth.  Being so detached from the main segment of the trail, I bet this rarely gets used.  I've never seen anyone on this stretch of trail. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That said, I firmly believe that this trail, once completed could be one of the best in the country.  The northern section is this really cool blend of feeling like you are in the middle of nowhere, while being close to neighborhoods and industrial businesses.  Having a train going through the woods next to the river was a unique feature.

 

Here's where things get dicey.  The northern section, which is only a mile or two long, dead-ends into Este Ave, which has a bike lane and is honestly barely ever driven on. It is too bad this isn't planned to have an off-road trail there's fields and nature all around the area.  The ignored sidewalk will eventually be turned into one of those multi-use sidewalks, but honestly, I'll probably still just use the bike lanes. 

 

It's a mile or two down Este where the bike lane just ends.  You are tasked with the challenge of holding your breath, turning onto the busy Spring Grove Ave/Mitchell Ave intersection, and scooting over 3 lanes to make a left to the start of the southern section of the MCG. 

 

The Spring Grove and Northside section of the trail is pretty standard fare.  It goes by a park and has some cool art, and takes you conveniently across two neighborhoods. 

 

 

 

 

 

The CROWN logo being faded is a nice reminder that this trail is also forgotten.

 

And. it. just. ends... Dumping you near the the Ludlow overpass wondering if this thing ends here or if the whole trail was funded by big scrapyard and big used car as a scheme to get you right on their doorsteps. After double-checking google maps (the first time I did this trail I made a wrong turn and biked a half mile down spring grove ave), I figured out where to go to catch back up with the Camp Washington section.

 

 

Are they extending the bike trail here?  Ha! of course not, it's a highway widening project!

 

The other part of the trail was right there, so obvious!

 

The Camp Washington section winds through trees and scrapyards and dumps you onto the Mill Creek Bridge. They gave bikes half of the real estate on this bridge! Honestly that is the biggest surprise I've ever seen from this administration. Did someone forge John Cranley's signature when the Mill Creek Alliance asked to give bikes a whole 10 ft lane and removing a vehicle lane?

 

 

 

 

Where the train tracks end...

 

I didn't take an pictures on my way back, my wife was already ticked off that I took way too long "going on a bike ride."  There does seem to be a future extension that got fenced off this past year on the east side of Vine just south of the OH-126 crossing.

 

Maybe it is selfish, but I wish that this trail would get some attention.  It is an awesome route through some unique landscapes and would dump right into the Lick Run and Ohio River Trails right next to downtown.

 

Hope you guys enjoy this, and hopefully this inspires some of you to take a ride on the trail sometime. It is something you can't find elsewhere in the city.

 

 

Edited May 31, 20196 yr by 10albersa

The half-takeover of the bridge occurred right as Cranley was taking office and was carried out without anyone from City Hall noticing. 

 

Whenever I ride across that thing, any car stopped at the light give you that same I've never seen anyone actually use the bike lane before look. 

 

 

 

It's one of those paths that could see some more rec use if it got cleaned from time to time.  The mud, sticks, and wood chips make it pretty hazardous.  

If this trail ever gets any attention, like say, the attention the WW gets, it will do well.  For now it is just a half-assed (besides the Northside section) trail.  It is the same issues that plagues anything that the public wants in this city that the mayor simultaneously doesn't want.  It is phoned-in and the mayor points and says "I told you so!" 

 

It also doesn't help that the areas it serves are mostly poor and minority-majority... so of course it won't get attention.

The gaps in connectivity are a problem.  The fix is to connect them of course, not to say "look nobody's using it so there's no need to spend more money on it."  The 200-foot gap at Elmore is infuriating.  Connect that through and you have a decent route from Beekman Street to Winton Road (the Spring Grove Avenue/Mill Creek bridge could be better but it's not the worst thing).  Winton to Este is another ballgame completely.  The rebuild of Spring Grove between Winton and Mitchell was a huge wasted opportunity to address the most dangerous section of what is otherwise a pretty good street to bike on.  They made zero accommodation for cycling unfortunately. 

The 200ft gap seems to be a land-acquisition problem with Aztec Services Group Inc, because the trail before it is built to go behind their building, then stops, then starts again behind another building, but you have to use a service drive between the 2 businesses to get to it.

In theory the bike trail could cross the creek at this point and then parallel the railroad tracks over Spring Grove before descending down to the existing trail west of Spring Grove Ave.  However, we all know that would be horrendously expensive - likely upwards of $5 million.  Somehow the new bike bridge over the Little Miami and very short tunnel under RT 32 near Lunken Airport is budgeted for that much.  

On 5/30/2019 at 10:24 PM, jmecklenborg said:

The half-takeover of the bridge occurred right as Cranley was taking office and was carried out without anyone from City Hall noticing. 

 

I specifically remember Dusty Rhodes complaining about it and saying that it was evidence of the City of Cincinnati's "War on Cars" ... long before pedestrian/cycling advocates took up that phrase as a badge of honor.

The bridge is barely ever driven on, what a turd. He's got to retire soon, right?