Towpath Trail route takes a turn after residents’ complaints

NEW PHILADELPHIA – Residents’ and officials’ concerns about the proposed Towpath Trail extension through the city have been heard.

The Ohio and Erie Canalway Coalition has moved the proposed route for the biking and hiking trail away from the Five Points intersection at West High, Tuscarawas Avenue, and Seventh Street. The new proposal would follow sections of Front Avenue SW, 10th Street SW and NW, Miller Avenue NW, and Union Avenue NW.

The proposed path crosses West High at 10^th Street.

The previous proposal drew opposition at New Philadelphia City Council meetings, where residents, business owners, and Mayor Joel Day criticized the Five Points crossing. Signs had popped up in residents’ yard that said “Stop the bike track.”

“We greatly appreciate and value the feedback from neighborhood residents, and the [new] proposed route … is in response to that,” said Ohio and Erie Canalway Coalition Director Dan Rice. “That’s really one of our core values as a nonprofit organization: to make sure we work with community residents to reflect their concerns.”

Rice says they want to hear from residents about the new proposal.

The Coalition will be at a public meeting Monday at 6 p.m. in New Philadelphia City Council chambers. Rice says residents and businesses along the trail should have received information packets in the mail. Those will be shared on Monday, as well. Here are a few files shared by the Ohio and Erie Canalway Coalition.

10th and Miller Temporary before after, 9-25-2023, Alternatives Map, 9-22-2023, Union Ave before after_no median_bike lane

Rice says the Coalition plans to eventually test the route by painting along the streets and putting up temporary signs.

Written by