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Metro Parks proposal would reroute mile of Bike & Hike Trail
By Bob Downing
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Tuesday, Jul 22, 2008
The National Park Service is seeking public comment on a plan to reroute a section of the Bike & Hike Trail in northern Summit County.
The project, advanced by Metro Parks, Serving Summit County, needs park service approval because it involves federal land within the Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Northfield Center and Sagamore Hills townships.
First proposed eight years ago, the plan calls for getting the trail off a dangerous section of Brandywine Road.
The one-mile rerouting would take the trail along the side of the road and across Interstate 271 on a new bridge. It would loop around Brandywine Falls and the Inn at Brandywine Falls, then run north on the west side of Brandywine Road to reconnect with the existing Bike & Hike Trail that continues into Cuyahoga County.
David Whited, a planner with Metro Parks, Serving Summit County, said engineering on the project could begin late this year or early next year and take about 12 months.
Construction is likely to begin in 2010, he said.
Metro Parks is working with the Ohio Department of Transportation on plans for the bridge over the interstate, he said.
The project had an initial price tag of $877,000 and the park district has not determined whether that estimate is likely to grow, Whited said.
The National Park Service is reviewing a detailed environmental assessment that analyzes the preferred route and three other options, including leaving the trail as it is.
The preferred route is what Metro Parks, Serving Summit County, has promoted for years, although the trail north of the inn has been moved to the east and is closer to Brandywine Road because of wetland concerns, said Michael Johnson, chief of natural resources for Metro Parks and the main author of the report.
The 46-page report, with nine appendices, can be reviewed at http://parkplanning.nps.gov. Click on Cuyahoga Valley National Park and then click on the Bike & Hike relocation. The public can submit comments about the project via the Web site.
Comments can also be sent until Aug. 25 to Superintendent, Cuyahoga Valley National Park, 15610 Vaughn Road, Brecksville, OH 44141.
After the comments are received, the National Park Service will finalize the report and submit it to its Omaha regional office, said Kim Norley, the Cuyahoga Valley project manager.
For information about the project, contact Johnson at 330-865-8057, Ext. 221, or Norley at 330-650-5071, Ext. 1.
The existing section of trail is considered dangerous and troublesome, especially for families with small children and inexperienced bicyclists.
Currently, bicyclists and hikers heading north leave an off-road section of the trail when they reach Brandywine Road in Northfield Center Township. They then must follow the edge of the two-lane road, where vehicles are traveling at 40 mph.
There is a steep drop to I-271 and Brandywine Falls, followed by a steep climb as hikers and bikers continue on Brandywine Road to the north.
The 32-mile Bike & Hike Trail stretches from Alexander Road in Walton Hills south to the Stow-Kent line. A second leg runs from Stow east to Hudson Road in Portage County's Franklin Township north of Kent. Most of the trail is on an old railroad bed.
Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com.
The National Park Service is seeking public comment on a plan to reroute a section of the Bike & Hike Trail in northern Summit County.
Get the full article here.
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