The Aylesboro Connector trail on Wasson Way is definitely an unorthodox project for CORA to be working on. Never before have we built a short piece of natural surface trail in an urban environment and a lot of people might be asking why we're doing this.
First off, let me just describe what this trail is. The Aylesboro Connector is a 200 foot long natural surface connective trail that connects Wasson Way up to Aylesboro Avenue, about 15’ above the rail trail grade. Currently, neighbors have built a desire-line (in other words, a user-built trail) that connects down the slick, steep grade with stone steps and a rope handrail. Currently the path is used by active seniors to access the trail. This methodology ultimately will fail as the trail erodes and seniors become less able to negotiate the steep grade. Additionally, there are parents with strollers, kids on bikes, and bike commuters accessing the trail from this point. Carrying strollers and bikes up the steep hillside is not an optimal solution either.
CORA is thrilled to be taking part in this project as our future goals include building more trails like this. We envision connecting the larger paved trails to neighborhoods, schools, parks, and recreational spots vis-à-vis natural surface trails. By daylighting these spaces, opening them up with trails, and eliminating honeysuckle, we can make them more conspicuous and less prone to nefarious uses. But, by far the biggest benefit is that we’ll create accessible continuity between places that thus far remain separate.
The Aylesboro Connector project is unique because the neighborhood approached CORA to do the work and is ready to not only help fund it, but also provide the volunteers to make it happen. This connector is a small, manageable opportunity for CORA to establish a working relationship with Cincinnati Department of Transportation Engineering (DOTE) and gives us an opportunity to show what we could do at a larger scale.
We hope that this project can be used as a template throughout the city to build more trails - especially in places where there’s a need for equitable access to trails. This project will cost about $6000 to execute whereas estimates for a paved connection in the same place were over $200,000. So the natural surface trail solution is more economical, making it more of an achievable reality for communities with less funding.
Going forward, CORA hopes that these types of connections are planned and built while paved trails are under construction. Making room for these kinds of trails in the initial broader project design allows us to build them at a fraction of the cost versus working them into the landscape when a need is established later on. As the demand for both paved and natural surface trails grows, we look forward to giving the community that which they desire, transforming Cincinnati into even more of an outdoor recreation city.
This project is in partnership with Wasson Way.