The Hamilton Beltine Recreational Trail transforms the abandoned rail line used by the former Champion Mill paper plant into a 3-mile recreational trail loop navigating the city’s neighborhoods. The first phase saw a half-mile length of path connect Eaton to Cleveland avenues.
Messer said this second phase will connect Cleveland Avenue to North B Street.
“We’ve already widened the sidewalk on North B Street, which was done for the sports complex, for the infrastructure improvements surrounding that,” he said. “So we’ve got a wider sidewalk that will take it down North B Street to Black Street, and then you would cross at Black Street.”
There are two more scheduled phases for the project, but the fourth phase is funding-dependent.
Phase 3 is under design and will take the path from North B Street at Black Street to the riverside of the hotel and convention center and down to the High-Main Bridge. This phase is funded with a $720,000 transportation alternatives grant, and hopefully Clean Ohio Trails funds, Messer said.
The fourth phase would require state capital grant funds to take the path from Eaton Avenue to Main Street.
If the city decides to construct a fifth phase, it would continue the path from Main Street to Millville Avenue, Messer said.
The trail is not connected to the Spooky Nook at Champion Mill project, as Messer said it would have happened with or without the multi-sports complex. But he said, “Spooky Nook has certainly accelerated the interest in it.”
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