Kettering research park bike link to expand options with Centerville, Dayton

Nick Blizzard, Dayton Daily News, Ohio
·2 min read

May 27—Work has started on the construction of a new Kettering Miami Valley Research Park bike path connector that is expected to provide links to trails from Centerville and Dayton.

The new trail is being built on the north side of Research Boulevard between Woodman Drive and College Drive, and the north side of College between Founders Drive and Spaulding Road, Kettering Project Engineer John Sliemers said.

The connector's two sections will be a combined 1,200 feet. But it will provide a link to the Iron Horse Trail on the east side of the research park that runs through Kettering into Centerville, Sliemers said.

It will also help tie into the future extension of the Flight Line bike path planned for the west side of Woodman, he added.

"It's sort of the middle section. But there's nothing that ties it into Woodman" or the Dayton Regional STEM School, which recently agreed to buy about 9.5 acres to expand at MVRP near its existing building, Sliemers said.

Dayton and Kettering plan to build the Flight Line bike path along several miles of vacated railroad tracks, officials have said.

Those tracks stretch from just east of the Oregon District (near Third and McDonough) through east Dayton along Hamilton Avenue and U.S. 35, before turning south, running along Woodman and ending near Delco Park in Kettering.

"This is a piece that's in preparation for it," Sliemers said. "But it also helps the people working at research park now."

L.J. DeWeese's bid of $277,182 was the lowest among five Kettering submissions and was awarded the contract for the project, earlier estimated at $350,000, city records show.

The state budget includes a $125,000 grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, but the state's share may be less than that due to bid coming in lower than projected, Sliemers said.

Construction, which is estimated to take about a month, will "minimally" impact traffic, Sliemers said.

"It has the potential to close the westbound lane of Research Boulevard from College to Woodman" and "traffic volumes here will be able to take this," he said.

"It will get a little busy during peak hours," Sliemers added. "But the development's worth it for that short-term inconvenience."