SCIOTO RIVER GREENWAY TRAIL: MAIN STREET BRIDGE RECONSTRUCTION (LOWER SCIOTO AND WEST BANK TRAILS)

Location: South of Town Street through Bicentennial Park to Miranova on the east side of the river; south of Town Street to Rich Street on the west side. Description: The closed Main Street bridge has been removed and will be replaced with a new bridge. Both anchorage areas have large closed-off sections blocking the existing trails. Detour Type: Relatively short in both cases. Well signed. SCIOTO: cross through Bicentennial Park, west (left) down Main Street and back onto the trail via a short asphalt path connector. WESTBANK: Turn west on Town Street, follow down to Starling Street. There is a long gravel connector with some steep ramping from there which crosses Rich St. and connects to the trail south to Dodge Park. Duration: The bridge project is scheduled for completion in 2009. Once the approaches are in place, depending on the needs for staging construction equipment and materials, the trail detours may change or be lifted. Construction Status: The new bridge is progressing. The piers are in place and the decking is being built. Still to be constructed - the tower structure. There is a webcam at: http://mainstreetbridge.bounceme.net/ Comment: The new bridge should afford good walkways for trail users. It will also lengthen and enhance the Scioto Loop.

THE SCIOTO TRAIL / THE WESTBANK TRAIL: RICH STREET BRIDGE (MAIN STREET) CONSTRUCTION: CLOSED WITH DETOURS The demolition and removal of the old Main Street bridge has been completed and new bridge construction is in progress. For the trail users, this means some detours. It appears that a nice effort was made to create simple, short detours so as to allow through traffic on both side of the river. Scioto Trail Detour: Traveling south - following the Civic Center Dr walkway along the east side of Bicentennial Park (you can use the park walkways as well) as it turns in S 2nd St. At the intersection with Main St, cross and turn right on the Main St walkway and continue down to the intersection with Short St. New asphalt surfacing has been added to create a short connector to the existing trail. The construction area is fenced off in this area.
Detour aerial Map	View of Bicentennial Park Closure	Closer view in Park	For the posted detour, enter the park. Bear right into the park at the Road Closed sign.	The detour wends through the park to the southeast corner.	Keep your eye on the turreted cultural center.	Take the park exit to the south east corner (Main St and S 2nd Street) and go right.	View down Main toward river.
Approaching Short St.	A gravel path leads down from the park if your go that way.	Across Short St. A workaround path to the trail.	A closer view.	Path to trail.	And back on the trail to Whittier.
You can detour around Bicentennial Park as well.
	For this router, bear left along Civic Center Drive walkway	Walkway curves and rises to Main St.	Top of the park approaching Main St.	The crossing at Main. Continue as above.
West Bank Detour: Traveling south - follow the walkway ramp up to Town St. (COSI is to the right) Cross Town and turn right and go west on the Town St walkway crossing Belle St. When you reach the intersection with Starling (Posted detour) turn right onto the new coarse gravel path (Starling is closed and the road is fenced off.) Follow the gravel path along (the fence line is to the left and the railroad embankment is to the right) to and cross Rich St (no signal but traffic is slowed by the detour). On the other side, the gravel path ramps up fairly steeply to go over the flood wall. There is a "Walk Bike" sign which is necessary because of the grade and the unevenness of the path. Also, once on the top of the flood wall, the gravel path ramps down very sharply to the concrete walkway under the nearby railroad trestle. This requires some careful negotiation, particularly in wet circumstances. Note: The trail is not exactly fenced off south of Town St until you approach Rich St. The short trail path that parallels the parking area (which is closed off) is now a dead-end a few dozen yards south of Town. Since it is fenced off, you can only turn around and go back.
Detour Map for the Westbank Trail.	At the top of the rise on Washington approaching Town St.	Closer view. Crossing is not signalized.	Once across Town, the area is closed but not blocked. If you continue on the trail (path to the center left).....	...then a little farther down you will run into a dead end.	A wider view. You cross and go left on the Town St. walkway.	Or you can stay on the near side of Town and cross farther down at Belle St.	At Belle St.
Next street is Starling. The temp gravel trail is on the other side. Note sign.	The gravel path cuts through to RIch St.	At Rich St.	Looking across Rich. Note the sharp rise of the path up the flood wall.	On top of the flood wall.	The drop to the path. It is steep but passable,	The path from below. Again it requires care but is passable.	The West Bank Trail headed towards Dodge Park.