FOLLOW THE YELLOW LINE I Old train tracks are finding new life as the Beltway in Hamilton n a time of the world where more and more conveniences in transportation are affecting the way we travel, several cities around the nation have seen the benefits of a recreational trail around their towns. Hamilton has already added onto their network of recreational trails and plans on adding more in the coming years. The Hamilton Beltline Trail completed phase one in 2021. The trail, which is a bike trail proposed from the beltline train line that serviced the paper mills on the river in years passed, started and completed work
40 Plan Hamilton
on the first of several phases last year. “We did phase one from Eaton Avenue to Cleveland Avenue. It's kind of in the middle of the overall beltline,” said Allen Messer, assistant director of engineering for the City. “We received a grant for $500,000 for ODNR, clean Ohio trails towards that, and another grant for $59,426 from ODNR NatureWorks. The net was off the overall roughly $760,000 project. And so that phase is complete.” Phase one was completed through the woods in between Cleveland and Eaton Avenue. It was the middle bracket of the beltline. The proposed
trail runs from Millville Avenue, looping around the west side to the river, running into Spooky Nook. “The reason it's phased in waves is that when we started applying for grants, Spooky Nook wasn't fully developed,” said Messer. “We will be going out to bid soon for phase two, which will be from Cleveland Avenue down to North B Street.” The second phase plans to be finished by mid-summer. From that point, the point of focus will be finishing the line from B Street along the river and through the new development with Spooky Nook.
