Council approves Black River trail easement

Metro Parks guiding east side project for bikes

Crews will build the 10-foot wide, 1.06-mile stretch in 2019 to run from the area of Riverbend Industrial Park east of Root Road, parallel to Colorado Avenue, to the area where the park district’s Black River Reservation Steel Mill Trail meets Colorado in Sheffield Village

Lorain City Council has taken a step forward to expand the bike trail running through the city’s east side.

On Oct. 15, Council approved an ordinance granting an easement to Lorain County Metro Parks for the Black River Bike Trail.

The easement eventually allows construction of the section known as Phase 3B.

Council action will not lead to shovels turning or new pavement immediately.

However, it is an important step because the city of Lorain owns the land where crews will build the trail.

Without city action to grant an easement for Phase 3B, Lorain County Metro Parks could not construct the trail legally, said Jim Ziemnik, executive director of the Metro Parks.

The Metro Parks will bid out the project at the end of 2018, or in early 2019, with a goal of construction next year, Ziemnik said.

Crews will build the 10foot wide, 1.06-mile stretch in 2019 to run from the area of Riverbend Industrial Park east of Root Road, parallel to Colorado Avenue, to the area where the park district’s Black River Reservation Steel Mill Trail meets Colorado in Sheffield Village.

The western end of Trail Phase 3B will meet the section built this year, a project known as Phase 3A.

Phase 3A was built to run about from Colorado Avenue in the area of Gerbick Motors, 1600 Colorado Ave., heading south into the Riverbend Industrial Park, then turning east, crossing Riverbend Drive and ending in the area by the curve near River Industrial Park Road.

Overall, the trail will run mostly east-west roughly parallel to Colorado Avenue.

Eventually, another section, known as Phase 3C of the project, will extend the Black River Bikeway north into the city of Lorain. Phase 3C will extend the Bikeway 7,200 feet north into Lorain from Colorado Avenue just south of Henderson Road to connect with Kansas Avenue in order to incorporate Century Park, Lakeside Landing and the Longfellow Park, according to the Metro Parks.

Phase 3C is the final connection between the Lorain lakefront and southern Lorain County and beyond via the North Coast Inland Trail.

LORAIN COUNTY METRO PARKS This map, created for Lorain County Metro Parks, shows where new bike trails are planned on the east side of Lorain. On Oct. 15, 2018, Lorain City Council approved an easement for the 1.06-mile stretch known as Phase 3B; it is the connector trail that appears on the lower right area of the map.