TRAIL
IN MADISON COUNTY MEETING SOME RESISTANCE
Six-mile path near Big Darby would link Metro Parks, could be part of larger trail
Thursday, October 2, 2003
By Steve Stephens
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
A proposed bicycle and hiking trail near Big Darby Creek would link Prairie Oaks and Battelle-Darby parks and could eventually join a longer trail stretching between Lake Erie and the Ohio River. But owners of nearby property wonder whether the trail will be more trouble than it's worth.
Battelle has offered to donate an easement across land it owns in eastern Madison County for a 6-mile trail, said John O'Meara, director of Franklin County Metro Parks. The easement would run between just north of Rt. 40 and just south of I-70. Metro Parks would need to buy short stretches of easement from other property owners to complete the link. The new trail would link to other trails in the two parks and would someday comprise a stretch of the proposed Ohio to Erie Trail between Cincinnati and Cleveland.
The average width of the easement is 25 feet, O'Meara said. The path would go by several woodlots but primarily would pass through what are now fields Battelle leases to farmers, O'Meara said. The path would not preclude farming of the surrounding land.
"We have every intention to put in appropriate agricultural crossings'' to allow farm equipment to cross the trail, he said. Metro Parks could also plant trees and shrubs along the path in some areas.
"I think this would bring an awful lot of benefit to the local community out there as well as the region,'' O'Meara said.
But Dottie Richeson, whose family owns farmland adjacent to Battelle and very near the proposed path of the trail, fears that people will stray from the path and damage farm fields. "We have an awful lot of problems with our fields already, with the four-wheel-drive vehicles and snowmobiles'' trespassing and doing damage, she said.
The proposed new trail would run well west of the Big Darby, almost to the village of West Jefferson and to Little Darby Creek at one point. It would cross Rt. 142 twice. A path should have been chosen closer to the Big Darby, Richeson said. "Wouldn't you rather see the creek and the trees than miles of cornfield? Once you've seen one cornstalk, you've seen them all.''
But O'Meara said Battelle chose the path to route it away from the institute's classified-research facilities. And West Jefferson officials have expressed interest in linking a proposed village bike path to the trail, he said.
Jefferson Township Trustee Rudy Denes said many questions remain. "We're not against the concept of a bicycle trail, but we need to know more,'' he said.
Trustee Mark Forrest said, "We know that (Metro Parks) projects are pretty nice. Our big concern is pedestrians crossing (Rt.) 142.''
Metro Parks estimates the trail would cost more than $120,000. Richeson questioned the spending. "The only people who really enjoy these paths are the ivory-tower people who have time after their 9-to-5 jobs to go out and ride,'' she said, "not the people who are working two jobs just to get by.''
Metro Parks has pledged to buy land or easements only from willing sellers, Forrest noted. Additional meetings will be scheduled between officials from the county, township and Metro Parks and concerned citizens, he said.
sstephens@dispatch.com
Six-mile path near Big Darby would link Metro Parks, could be part of larger trail
Thursday, October 2, 2003
By Steve Stephens
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
A proposed bicycle and hiking trail near Big Darby Creek would link Prairie Oaks and Battelle-Darby parks and could eventually join a longer trail stretching between Lake Erie and the Ohio River. But owners of nearby property wonder whether the trail will be more trouble than it's worth.
Battelle has offered to donate an easement across land it owns in eastern Madison County for a 6-mile trail, said John O'Meara, director of Franklin County Metro Parks. The easement would run between just north of Rt. 40 and just south of I-70. Metro Parks would need to buy short stretches of easement from other property owners to complete the link. The new trail would link to other trails in the two parks and would someday comprise a stretch of the proposed Ohio to Erie Trail between Cincinnati and Cleveland.
The average width of the easement is 25 feet, O'Meara said. The path would go by several woodlots but primarily would pass through what are now fields Battelle leases to farmers, O'Meara said. The path would not preclude farming of the surrounding land.
"We have every intention to put in appropriate agricultural crossings'' to allow farm equipment to cross the trail, he said. Metro Parks could also plant trees and shrubs along the path in some areas.
"I think this would bring an awful lot of benefit to the local community out there as well as the region,'' O'Meara said.
But Dottie Richeson, whose family owns farmland adjacent to Battelle and very near the proposed path of the trail, fears that people will stray from the path and damage farm fields. "We have an awful lot of problems with our fields already, with the four-wheel-drive vehicles and snowmobiles'' trespassing and doing damage, she said.
The proposed new trail would run well west of the Big Darby, almost to the village of West Jefferson and to Little Darby Creek at one point. It would cross Rt. 142 twice. A path should have been chosen closer to the Big Darby, Richeson said. "Wouldn't you rather see the creek and the trees than miles of cornfield? Once you've seen one cornstalk, you've seen them all.''
But O'Meara said Battelle chose the path to route it away from the institute's classified-research facilities. And West Jefferson officials have expressed interest in linking a proposed village bike path to the trail, he said.
Jefferson Township Trustee Rudy Denes said many questions remain. "We're not against the concept of a bicycle trail, but we need to know more,'' he said.
Trustee Mark Forrest said, "We know that (Metro Parks) projects are pretty nice. Our big concern is pedestrians crossing (Rt.) 142.''
Metro Parks estimates the trail would cost more than $120,000. Richeson questioned the spending. "The only people who really enjoy these paths are the ivory-tower people who have time after their 9-to-5 jobs to go out and ride,'' she said, "not the people who are working two jobs just to get by.''
Metro Parks has pledged to buy land or easements only from willing sellers, Forrest noted. Additional meetings will be scheduled between officials from the county, township and Metro Parks and concerned citizens, he said.
sstephens@dispatch.com