GALION — Bikers aren’t waiting until the official opening of the city’s new bike path. They’re already hitting the trail.
The new path, which is 10 feet wide and 0.8 miles long, begins at the Galion Wastewater Treatment Plant on Hosford Road and follows the Olentangy River north to Bucyrus Road, where there’s designated parking area for bikers, walkers, and runners.
“It’s been in really active use already,” Galion Mayor Tom O’Leary said. “Every time I’ve been out there surveying the project and getting a little exercise at the same time, there are people you meet along the way, but that’s what we expected.”
Shirley Kendall of Galion has walked her dog Luca, a Weimaraner, on the scenic path several times this summer already.
“We love coming out her,” she said. “We always went to the Lexington Bike Trail. We live right on Biddle, so we’ll spend a lot of time here. We think it’s great.”
The idea for a pedestrian-only, recreational trail was hatched about six years ago, O’Leary said, but it took three unsuccessful grant applications from state agencies, including the ODNR, before funding could finally be secured locally from the Egbert M. Freese Foundation.
The Freese Foundation awarded the city $219,764 — the original cost for the project — to build the first phase of the bike path, then after an additional request agreed to chip in $35,000 more to pay for fencing, seeding and striping, O’Leary said.
Construction began in the spring with the clearing of trees. While the city owns the majority of the 35 acres, O’Leary said one privately-owned parcel was purchased and easements were required on portions of two other properties.
Earthworm Construction in Iberia was the contractor for this phase of the project. Down the road, O’Leary said, the plan is to extend the trail south to Amann’s Reservoir and then north around the Galion City Schools campus to PECO Park off Ohio 598.
“Now that we’ve got something started, we’re going to apply for money to build another segment,” O’Leary said. “Property acquisition would be necessary to extend it to PECO, but I think it could be a real asset. There’s really a lot of neat upside potential.”
The bike path is dog-friendly, but owners are responsible for keeping their pets on leashes. O’Leary said the city is also exploring the possibility of adding benches and bird boxes along the route as well as solar powered video surveillance cameras.