OPAL Trails presented to the Liberty Township Trustees on May 18, 2015 about their goal of making Liberty Township a safer and more enjoyable place for trail activities. They held an open house in February 2015 where over 100 people attended and provided input through a community survey. The top priorities identified through the survey were trails along Liberty Road, Home Road, Rutherford Road, the Scioto River, Sawmill Parkway North, and connecting North and South Liberty Parks. OPAL's objective is to make Liberty Township a Bicycle Friendly Community by 2020. They recommended seeking funding for priority trails, initiating trail work in 2015, enforcing complete streets policies, addressing railroad crossings, and working toward the bicycle friendly designation.
2. OPAL’s goal is to help make Liberty Township
a safer and more enjoyable environment for
walking, running, biking and other
trail-related recreation.
3. Open House
• 2/26/15 at Liberty Township
Hall
• Over 100 attended
• Launched community input
survey
4. Survey
• 2/26/15 - 3/17/15
• 268 completed
• 176 email addresses
collected from individuals
wanting to be updated
about OPAL progress
5. Survey Results: Top 6 Priorities
1. Liberty Road Trail
2. Home Road Trail
3. Rutherford Road Trail
4. Scioto River Trail
5. Sawmill Parkway Trail North
6. Liberty Park North/South connector
6. Details of Top Priorities
1. Liberty Road Trail - Complete missing segments in trail gaps along
Liberty. Approximately 1.4 miles to extend to Home Road.
2. Home Road Trail - Proposed 4.2 mile east west connector. Connect to
Orange Twp trail system to the east and to Concord Twp. park to the west.
Corridor to connect schools, trails and parks.
3. Rutherford Trail - Proposed 1.5 mile route to connect residential areas to
Sawmill Pkwy on the east & Scioto River Trail on the west. Powell
potentially to continue connection to existing trails.
4. Scioto River Trail - Proposed 3.3 mile trail along City of Columbus
property bordering the Scioto River west of S.R. 257. Trail to provide
connections to Dublin, Columbus Zoo, Powell Road and Home Road.
5. Sawmill Parkway Trail North - Proposed 5 mile trail to be constructed in
conjunction with the Sawmill Pkwy extension. Begins in front of Olentangy
Liberty HS and will include missing piece up to Hyatts Road.
6. Park Trail Connector - Connect South Liberty Park to North Liberty Park.
7. OPAL Objective:
Bicycle Friendly
Community by 2020
First step towards this
goal…
Wheelie Fun Bike Shop
received SILVER level
Bike Friendly Business
honors from League of
American Bicyclists
8. Bicycle Friendly Communities
• 242 BFCs in 47 states
• Local Bronze Level Communities:
Columbus, Dublin & Westerville
• Elite status for our community
• We are on our way!
9. OPAL Recommendations
1. Seek funding for priority trails
2. Initiate trail work in 2015
3. Enforce Complete Streets Policy
• For new developments
• For road projects
4. Address railroad crossings by
adopting resolution (details to
follow)
5. Work toward becoming a Bike
Friendly Community
10. Thanks to Our Supporters
• MORPC
• Liberty Twp staff
• Liberty Twp Trustees
• Del. Co. Engineer’s Office
• Del. Co. Preservation Parks
• Columbus Metro Parks
• OPAL Committee Members
• Liberty/Powell YMCA
• Wheelie Fun Bike Shop
11. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Happy Trails!
