About four and a half miles of Pierce Township’s hike bike trail is complete, including this section in the Legendary Run development.

About four and a half miles of Pierce Township’s hike bike trail is complete, including this section in the Legendary Run development.
By Kelly Doran
Editor

Pierce Township’s hike bike trail has been a long time coming, but after many years of planning and about a year of construction, the first loop is nearly done.

“This has been part of a master plan for Legendary Run community. So we’re down to the final pieces of connecting the whole loop on what we call the eastern side of Legendary Run,” Township Administrator Tim Hershner said.

The hike bike trail loop the township is currently working on will be about 5.25 miles when complete and is something the entire community can enjoy, Hershner said. About four and a half miles are complete now.

Officials in Pierce Township have been talking about the hike bike path for more than a decade, but it wasn’t until the township was awarded a grant in 2013 that the project got some traction, said Hershner.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources awarded the township a $126,331 grant, Hershner said.

In addition to the grant, a little more than $90,000 for the trail comes from a Tax Increment Financing fund, Hershner said. The trail will cost about $350,000 total.

The design was part of the original plan for the Legendary Run development but was always intended for the entire community’s use, Township Trustee Bob Pautke said. The initial idea was to have the trail connect about 1,100 homes to schools, parks and the golf course.

“Every piece that moves along I’m very excited about,” Pautke said. He has been going to meetings about the trail since the early 2000s.

Construction began in October of 2014, stopped in December for the winter and started again at the end of June, Hershner said. He recently took bids for a 200 foot section to complete the project.

It has been hard to commit to an end date, but Hershner feels the end is finally in sight.

“It’s a day-to-day project for us,” Hershner said.

There have been some issues getting easements from property owners because the paperwork of the original development didn’t provide for easements in the record plats, Hershner said.

Only one homeowner still refuses to sign an easement unless the township pays him, Hershner said, but Hershner does not feel that is the right thing to do, since the trail has been in the plans for the development since the homeowner’s house was built.

Hershner recently discovered that the homeowners’ association can grant easements for certain uses, including trails. However, Hershner wants to be positive that is right before the township takes any action.

The only piece of the trail that won’t be complete soon is the property of the homeowner who won’t sign the easement.

After this 4.75 mile stretch of the trail is complete, the township will start planning to build more of the trail from the Legendary Trails Drive to Merwin 10 Mile Road, which Hershner hopes to secure approvals and have completed within five years.

Once that stretch is done, a trail loop will be completed. The trail will run from the Pierce Township Park along Locust Corner Road to Merwin 10 Mile Road to Legendary Run East to the Legendary Run Golf Club House and returning to the Pierce Township Park, Hershner said.

“We’re committed to making it happen as part of finishing up the Legendary Run development,” Hershner said.

The township pursued the trail because it is typical to have a community facility in a plan for a unit development, and trails are very attractive to potential community members, Hershner said.

Hike bike trails have been an emerging trend across the country, Pautke said.

“I’m excited for our township to grow,” Pautke said.

The idea for the trail is to also connect it to unpaved paths through the woods. Pautke would like to see an entire network of paths.

In the future, Hershner plans to look into Park Master Planning to further benefit the township and its parks.