Nelsonville residents likely will be able to enjoy their city by bike or take a stroll on a new 1.86-mile bike path connection to the Hocking-Adena Bikeway, and they have $800,800 of state funds to thank. The Nelsonville bike path is one of 35 community-enhancement projects totaling $14.5 million that Ohio Department of Transportation is supporting this year. The enhancement projects are a different way to use transportation
ODOT spokeswoman Lindsay Komlanc said. People always think of ODOT as building highways and roads but this is something that the locals can actually do. It provides activity and gives them a chance to connect to their city. To be eligible to receive the funding, Nelsonville needed to have a local government sponsor and had to provide a 20 percent cash match to the funds they received from ODOT.The total cost of the bike path will be about $1.2 million, said Debbie Fought, planning administrator for the Marietta Branch of the Department of Transportation. Nelsonville city officials also are hoping to receive the Clean Ohio Fund Trails Grant, which would provide about $200,000 in additional funding for the construction of the path. The bike path is contingent on us getting the grant but we don't have any reason to think we won't get it
Nelsonville City Council President Anita Mondo said. City officials will know for sure if they received the grant in late September, after which a solid construction timeline for the bike path will begin, Mondo said. From a tourism standpoint, she said, the addition of the path is a smart move because avid bikers will travel to Nelsonville to ride it. I think it will be good for the downtown area
she said. The area has really experienced a rebirth in the past few years
and the bike path will help it even more.In addition, students from Hocking College who typically cut through woods to travel to Nelsonville from their school now will have a clear pathway to reach the city, Fought said. The 35 projects that ODOT sponsors this year will enhance scenic locations, restore historical sites and add pedestrian and bicycle cities in every region of Ohio.
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