The city of Athens held a public meeting Friday to discuss the development of a new bike path spur which will connect the Hockhocking Adena Bikeway to Columbus Road.
The project is estimated to cost as much as $1.4 million, with 20 percent of these funds to come from the city of Athens and 80 percent from the state.
“We’ve had a lot of support from the biking community, who have said that this is an underserved area in town,” said Matt Burgdorf, a civil engineer with the project. “They don’t feel comfortable riding out here right now.”
The comments from the event were mostly supportive in nature. But there were also inquiries regarding the safety of the bike railings and concerns from local businesses along Columbus Road that may be affected by the alignment of the bike path.
Burgdorf estimated that about 25 people participated in the public meeting.
The event, which was required in order for the project to receive government funding, allowed Athens residents to voice their concerns and opinions about the project. Those involved in the project were required to publicly respond to the comments made at the meeting and take into consideration any of the thoughts that were expressed.
Along the current proposed alignment for the bike path, the route will cut through about a hundred feet of private property before connecting to Columbus Road, Burgdorf said.
He said, overall, the businesses who would potentially be affected have been positive about the project, but many still have some concerns about how parking will be affected.
The proposal for the project began about eight months to a year ago, said Burgdorf. Since then, the committee involved in the project has proposed six potential alignments.
The committee took environmental and property concerns into consideration when proposing these alignments, although the proposed route could change based on the comments submitted at the public meeting.
The city is still waiting on a grant from the Department of Public Works before it can begin the project. Once the grant is confirmed, the city will have local contractors place bids for the work. City leaders have said they hope to begin construction on the project in about a year.
“There will be a December bid, early spring construction, and the construction will take about eight to ten months,” said Tim Bodin, another civil engineer with the project.
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