A grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony took place on Saturday to celebrate Aurora’s new hike and bike path, Aurora Trail.
The Aurora Trail Hike & Bike Grand Opening was held in the parking lot at Paddock River Preserve at 129 Trails End in Aurora, a location that now serves as trailhead parking for the new trail.
As part of the celebration, community members showed up with their bicycles to partake in a bicycle parade on the new trail, which was led by Aurora’s Assistant Director of Parks and Recreation Bill Fellenstein, who rode a penny farthing bicycle the full length of the trail. Scouts BSA Troop 269 attended the event to help bicyclists decorate their bikes.
Other festivities included a scavenger hunt, giveaways, a live DJ, complimentary pulled-pork sandwiches provided by Ol’chefskis BBQ, Bistro On The Go food truck, and more.
The 10-foot wide, 2.8-mile, asphalt-paved multi-use trail spans from State route 82 in Aurora to Chamberlain Road in Mantua Township, where it connects with Headwaters trail. The trail passes through a section of the old Norfolk Southern railroad corridor, so it will be listed on the Rails To Trails Conservancy [RTC] website soon.
The Rails To Trails Conservancy [RTC] is an organization that helps preserve, and advocates for, the nation’s unused railroad corridors by transforming them into trails for walking and bicycling.
The $1.24 million project was funded by a $500,000 grant from ODNR, with the remaining costs paid for by the city of Aurora.
Evan and Vickie Webster live right next to Aurora Trail and in the past have used several Rails To Trails paths throughout Ohio for tandem bicycling with their son, Mitchell. They said the trails are flat and easy to traverse because they’re made from repurposed railway corridors, which are primarily flat. They’ve been anticipating the grand opening of Aurora Trail for quite some time.
“We’re all so excited, because we have a lot of restaurants where the trail’s ending right now, before it continues in the future,” Vickie said. “There’s The Mason Jar, Ol’chefskis and the Aurora Inn— all really close, so people could ride it, do lunch or dinner, and we’re hoping that’ll bring even more commerce down to our area. I think it’s a great asset for our community, too, because it’s linking a lot of our parks, and kids can get around and be on a trail instead of having to be on a road. It’s right at our front door and that’s another thing we’re excited about.”
Mayor Ann Womer Benjamin said acquiring the railway corridor for the use of a trail had been a high priority for her ever since she was elected 12 years ago, but Norfolk Southern was unwilling to negotiate a right of way. Instead, the railroad company underwent the federal process of abandonment and voluntarily relinquished the railroad right of way to FirstEnergy Corp.
When Womer Benjamin found out that FirstEnergy Corp. acquired the property, she knew they only wanted to use it for the installation of electrical poles, so she sued them to get a recreational easement.
“We sued FirstEnergy, because we wanted the right of way, and we wanted to at least control what was in it,” Womer Benjamin said. “We litigated and negotiated for a number of years and finally settled, and as part of the settlement, Aurora received a recreational easement across the railroad right of way, actually from Chamberlain Road in Mantua township to Treat Road in Aurora.”
Before the end of the year, Portage Park District will be building a trail between Chamberlain Road to Diagonal Road in Mantua Township, then the only gap between the trailhead of Headwaters Trail in Garrettsville and the Aurora Trail trailhead at State route 82 in Aurora will be a 1.5 mile section between Mennonite Road and Diagonal Road. That section, too, is scheduled to get its own trail in 2029.
“We’re in the engineering phase for what we call our Headwaters Trail Phase 8,” Executive Director of Portage Park District Christine Craycroft said. “That is from Chamberlain Road [East end of Aurora Trail] going East to Diagonal Road.
“We already have a grant for that, and we’re expecting that to be built this year, as well, and open before the end of the year. We’ll still have a gap in the middle between Diagonal Road and Mennonite Road. Phase 9, the 1.5 miles, we have funding for it, but it’s not scheduled to be built until 2029.”
The Phase 8 trail will be a paved path parallel to the road and will include a trailhead at Chamberlain Road with restrooms and a parking lot.
Solon is also planning the construction of a railway corridor trail that connects to the Aurora Trail. Solon’s mayor, Eddie Kraus, said the city is closing a deal with Norfolk Southern in September to begin construction on the trail by next year. The trail will be five miles long, stretching from Cochrane Road in Solon to the Western end of Aurora Trail at Treat Road, and will traverse through the old Geauga Lake site.
“It’s really a three-county project,” Solon Mayor Eddie Kraus said, “Cuyahoga County, Geauga County and Portage County, and we have amazing partnerships.”
Kraus said the trail system will help the community stay healthy, live a better life, and will serve as a means for the three counties to compete with other regions to bring in businesses and community members.
Now, after more than a decade of planning, the Aurora Trail is up and running for everyone’s hiking and biking pleasure. And not only does it sit next to the Paddock River Preserve, the entire length of the trail is scenic and woodsy, with a portion of it running adjacent to the Aurora Sanctuary State Nature Preserve.
“The trail is one of those projects that people hoped for and talked about and wished for and worked towards for such a long time, that it’s really rewarding, and it’s a wonderful feeling that we brought it here now for people,” Aurora City Director Laura Holman said. “It’s the first step in a wonderful journey for connectivity and getting people out in nature. It’s everything that’s wonderful about being in a small town, being outside, experiencing relationship building and health and wellness.”
