In October, OKI Regional Council of Governments announced $50.4M in federal funding awards for 17 transportation projects in Greater Cincinnati. Roughly $14.7M will go toward new bike and pedestrian infrastructure.

One regional project that is making moves is the Great Miami River Trail (GMRT). Two funded projects will close the remaining trail gaps in Butler County. Metro Parks of Butler County was awarded $1.7M to construct a 1.7-mile extension from Rentschler Forest to Monroe Bicentennial Commons Park. Additionally, the City of Fairfield was awarded $750,000 to close gaps between Waterworks Park, Marsh Park, and FurField Dog Park, resulting in a 2.5-mile trail extension southward.

“MetroParks of Butler County is elated to receive the Surface Transportation Block Grant funding as this secures the final piece necessary to complete our portion of the GMRT. We are grateful to OKI for recognizing the importance of this regional trail system and are confident these funds will provide innumerable opportunities for recreation, transportation and economic development in Butler County and beyond.”

Jackie O’Connell, Executive Director of MetroParks of Butler County

Tri-State Trails has been supporting the development of the GMRT in Butler County since 2017. In anticipation of the gap between Middletown and Franklin being constructed, Tri-State Trails united partners in Butler County to prepare regional trail plans for the future. In 2018, we completed the Miami 2 Miami Connection Action Plan, which encouraged the City of Monroe to pursue two grants to build the GMRT in their jurisdictional boundary. Both grants were awarded – $750,000 from OKI and $500,000 from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Clean Ohio Trails Fund.

The long-awaited 2.1-mile gap between Middletown and Franklin was constructed in 2021. This project, which had been in the works for nearly five years, was funded in collaboration between OKI and the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission. This project linked roughly 8.5 miles in Middletown to 55 miles of GMRT running north through Dayton to Piqua. Also, in 2021, MetroParks extended the trail north out of Rentschler Forest 0.8 miles – the Timberhill Connection.

The same year, Tri-State Trails partnered with local governments in Butler County to develop an Action Plan for the last two unfunded gaps in the Great Miami River Trail in Butler County. MetroParks took the lead in 2022 to apply for and receive $1.1M from OKI to construct the 1.7-mile gap between the Trenton Trailhead on State Route 73 and the northern terminus of Monroe’s project. Funding for this project should come online in 2025.

With all these projects funded, that left a 3.1-mile unfunded gap between Monroe Bicentennial Commons Park and Rentschler Forest. In the wake of surged trail usage during the pandemic, the Butler County Commissioners awarded $2.5M in American Rescue Plan Act funding to MetroParks to advance this gap. These funds will be leveraged with the recently awarded OKI grant to build the trail in 2026. With Fairfield’s extension also planned to come online in 2026, the Great Miami River Trail will span roughly 88 miles from Fairfield to Piqua!

Seeing all this progress, Great Parks of Hamilton County is now working on a plan to extend the trail south to the Ohio River.

Projects like this are often complex, time-consuming, and require significant investment. Advancing multi-jurisdictional active transportation projects like the Great Miami River Trail is why Tri-State Trails exists as a nonprofit advocacy organization. If you appreciate these connections, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to support our work.