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Construction Updates
Bike & Hike Trail | Freedom Secondary Trail
Liberty Park | Munroe Falls | Springfield Bog
Towpath Trail | Trail Closings
Updated August 25, 2010. For more information, call the administrative offices at 330-867-5511, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
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Bike & Hike Trail: Brandywine Road bypass
Planning continues for this one-mile re-route of the Bike & Hike Trail. When completed, the scenic Brandywine Falls will be an attraction on this section of trail. Two substantial milestones were achieved in 2008. First, the environmental assessment was completed and approved by the National Park Service. Second, an agreement was executed between Metro Parks and Cuyahoga Valley National Park, clearing the way for engineering and construction. Engineering may be complete in 2010 and construction may begin in 2010-11.
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Freedom Secondary Trail
Starting at the Portage Hike and Bike Trail in Kent, this proposed multi-purpose trail – on land owned by Metro Regional Transit Authority – will follow an unused railroad corridor, connect to the Tallmadge Trail and continue west to the Towpath Trail via a linkage at the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad’s Northside Station in downtown Akron. Another section may link to the 33.5-mile Bike & Hike Trail in Munroe Falls. A feasibility study was completed in 2009. Construction and engineering will take place in three phases through 2012.
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Liberty Park
In 2008 the resource management, naturalist and planning departments began preliminary planning for a proposed nature center at Liberty Park, along with a hiking trail that will provide views of the scenic sandstone ledges and marshland. Trail construction began in 2009 and was funded with help from a grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. The trail could open by fall 2010.
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Munroe Falls Metro Park
Engineering is underway for improvements to the newest addition to Munroe Falls Metro Park: the Tallmadge Meadows Area. Summit County transferred the 287-acre former County Home property to Metro Parks in 2007. Construction on a parking lot, hiking trails, picnic shelter and restrooms should begin in 2010.
Elsewhere, the entrance to the lake area will not be affected by construction on a nearby roundabout this summer. South River Road is open to the park entrance.
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Springfield Bog Metro Park
Plans for the yet-to-open park, off Portage Line Road in Springfield Township, have taken shape. A parking lot could be constructed this fall, allowing visitors to watch the park grow. Soybeans are being farmed this year; next year prairie plants will be planted. The prairie will attract butterflies and birds like bobolinks, meadowlarks and rails – all grassland nesting species.
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Towpath Trail: Various sections
Work on the final leg in Summit County, stretching from downtown Akron to Summit Lake, began in mid-June, 2010. The project is being funded by the City of Akron and ODOT, and is scheduled for completion in fall of 2011. Elsewhere, the section from the Wolf Creek Trailhead to Eastern Road is about half complete. The second half is engineered and ready to bid. It includes a railroad underpass, a bridge over the Tuscarawas River at its confluence with Wolf Creek, and a bridge over a remnant section of the canal south of Snyder Road. Construction could begin in late 2010 or 2011.
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Trail Closings
Bike & Hike Trail: Starting March 1, 2010 and continuing until October 1, contractors for the city of Stow will be completing roadwork on Seasons Road between Wyoga Lake and Allen roads, which may affect the park district's 33.5-mile Bike & Hike Trail in one location. Though officials expect the Bike & Hike Trail and all parking lots to remain open during the work, there could be times when the crossing at Seasons Road may need to be temporarily closed.
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