Stratford Woods may have more traffic coming its way in the future.
While the 15-acre park on Hawthorn Drive features a playground, basketball court and a bike path, the Central Ohio Greenways board would use its trail to connect downtown Delaware to the Olentangy trail.
“You should be able to bike to downtown Columbus,” said Ted Miller, Delaware parks and natural resources director and vice chairman of the COG board. “That’s the ultimate goal.”
COG is a standing board on the Sustainability Advisory Committee, which guides the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission. COG provides input and direction on matters of regional significance pertaining to trails in central Ohio, including trail development, funding, education and programming and marketing.
The main goal of COG is to increase the number of people using the regional trail system through trail network expansion, programming, branding, marketing and new partnerships.
The Olentangy trail is completed in Franklin County but has gaps in Delaware County, Miller said. Ideally, the proposed trail would be located along the Olentangy river in Delaware.
“There’s a lot of little links to fill in,” he said.
Multi-use trails have been the No. 1 request from residents, Miller said, whether for recreation or transportation purposes. The city of Delaware paid a consultant $42,000 in June 2015 to update its bike plan.
“We’re still in the working phases,” Miller said. A timetable and cost for adding and expanding trails have not been determined, but other cities have received $50 million from the private sector to expand their own trails.
