There's a new effort to tie two local trails together. Fifteen organizations in Butler and Warren counties are working on a plan to connect the Little Miami Scenic and the Great Miami River Trails. The idea was first floated in 2002 in an OKI study according to Wade Johnston of Green Umbrella.
He says the "Miami 2 Miami" plan will have, "The communities working together collaboratively to prioritize a single route that everyone agrees on so that we're able to reap the benefits of having a connected network instead of having pieces of network."
Johnston says seven communities that the trail will pass through have signed on:
- Hamilton
- Fairfield
- Mason
- Fairfield Township
- West Chester Township
- Liberty Township
- Deerfield Township.
Johnston says connecting the two hiking-biking paths has some challenges, but Mason already has a good foundation. "They have about 30 miles of trail, and much of the Mason network is connected."
He admits there are some challenges. "Assembling a corridor of right-of-way and then obviously constructing it and finding the funding to construct it. So the corridors that we're really prioritizing looking at are mostly publicly owned and could be an easy win."
Johnston says finding the funding may also be tough but he says there are another 8 organizations, both public and private that are willing to help. And he says a survey in West Chester and Liberty Township found public support for trails was high.
He says they plan to apply for funding in the spring.
