The Linear Park is a 5.5 mile tree-lined bike and walking path overlooking and running through the center of the city.  The park follows the path of an abandoned railroad and stretches from Spiker Road (on the west end of town) to Troy-Sidney Road (on the east end of town).  It includes a tunnel under Sunset Avenue, a prefabricated steel bike bridge over College Street, and updates to the steel girder train bridge across the Great Miami River.  These updates include a timber deck and wooden guard rails.

French Park will be one of the main access points to the Linear Park, which is located near the central point of the path.  It is a partially wooded area located at the corner of Water and Steel Streets.  It consists of a parking area, access paths to the Linear Park, and picnic tables throughout the wooded area of the park.  The land for the park was donated to the city by Daniel and Margaret French of the French Oil Machinery Company of Piqua.  Both Mr. and Mrs. French were on hand for the dedication ceremony.

The parks represent phase one of the three-phase $10 million Loop project.  The other two phases are the municipal government complex and the downtown streetscaping and facade improvement project.
 
 

The path was long awaited by my wife and I.  It has been in the plans for a couple of years to my knowledge.  Being avid road cyclists, we looked forward to its completion.  While we like riding on the roads around Miami and Shelby counties, it is nice to have a place where we can ride without having to worry about automobiles quite as much.  It is also extremely smooth being a new path, so there is practically no road vibration. Ahhh!  Since the path is mostly on a converted railway line, there are no hills for the most part.  There are only two small very mild climbs; one when entering Westbound from Roosevelt street; the other just a bit West of the Sunset Avenue tunnel.

We are happy to say we are not disappointed.  The path is nicer than most with benches, landscaping and several small parks along the way.  It is a nice place for exercise, walking, cycling or just getting out to smell nature and relax within the city.  It has a great peaceful feel.  Since Piqua is a small community without large amounts of traffic like Dayton, it is quiet almost everywhere along the path.  The only noticeable place where road noise is apparent is on the Patrezio Street connector which runs under I-75.  But this is on a city street and not on the path itself.  (I describe the connector below.)

There is currently today (June 29, 2001) one small one-block unfinished portion in the path.  Piqua is building a new city hall and the construction storage area blocks the path on that block.  (See the photo below)  There is a small sidewalk area that goes by the fence of the storage area that serves to get you back to the path.  The construction storage area is scheduled to be gone and the path connected through that block in November of this year, 2001.  So the sidewalk connector is a small nuisance that we only have to put up with for a bit more time.

If you are not in walking or cycling distance of the linear park, there are four official parking areas.  There are two small ones at either end.  The East end is on Troy-Sidney road perhaps 1/4 mile South from State Route 36.  The West end is on Spiker Road, just a hundred yards or so North of State Route 36.  One of the two larger parking areas is near the center of the path at French Park.  If the parking lot is full at French Park (which I have yet to see happen), there is plenty of street parking there also.  The other large parking area is located in downtown Piqua near the intersection of Main and Sycamore.  For those that would like go to the Miami Valley Center Mall and take a walk at the same time, this is a good place to park.  You can walk East on the path from here, cross the trestle bridge, down the path for a half mile or so and end up right at the mall.

So get off your duff away from that computer and come on outdoors, get some exercise and smell the flowers.  If you see a man on a bright yellow road bike (Scott) and / or his wife on a salmon colored one (Stephanie) about to streak by you, stop us and have a chat.  We hope to see you out there!
 
 

Shown below are photos taken along the path on a typical ride from end to end.  I started on the East end and continued to the West end.  The photos are in the order as you would see them on this trip.  There are a couple of photos that I took on detours to get views of the bridges and parks from city streets.
 

Click on the photos below for larger more detailed views.  THE LARGER PHOTOS ARE CURRENTLY BEING WORKED ON AND WILL NOT APPEAR CURRENTLY.
 

Here is the entrance from the East end found perhaps 1/4 mile South of State Route 36 on Troy-Sidney Road.  As you can see, this section of the path is lined with trees.

Just starting the trip down the path from the East end, you find the rules of the path.  I wish everyone would take to time to read them.  It only takes seconds.  Sometimes I think some people think they are in England when on the path.  Remember its just like on the roads, we drive / walk on the right and pass on the left.  Single file in heavy congestion, not two or three abreast.

Looking back to the east from Patrezio Place.  There really isn't a parking lot here, but some people use the spot along the guard rail as one.  The police don't seem to mind, as it is out of the way of the traffic on the street.  It is a good way to access the East end of this section of the path if you don't want to drive all the way out to Troy-Sidney road.  The entrance to this end of the path is just out of the photo on the left.

Taken from the same spot as the photo before this one, but looking West down Patrezio Place.  It is probably only 2/10 of mile along this connector to rejoin with the path where Patrezio Place takes a sharp left.  This photo was taken midday during the week and you can see there is not much traffic on this street normally.  The overpass is I-75.  This is the only place along the path where a lot of road traffic noise can be heard and it is on the street connector not the path proper.

Taken from Patrezio at the sharp left bend.  As you can see, you rejoin the path off this bend in the road.

Again, from Patrezio Place, right at the path entrance.  One of the numerous benches can be seen just ahead on the right.

After crossing some railroad tracks and Garbry Road (a street really), the path runs along Garbry for a short distance before turning right and heading back to the old railway line where it is again hidden among the trees.  This is the only spot where the path runs along a street.  Not shown in this photo is the Miami Valley Center Mall, which was to my right and slightly behind me when I took this photo.  Many people walk the path from in town and leave it where I am standing to go to the mall.

This shows the view coming up to the old converted train trestle that crosses the Great Miami River.  This is a very nice job done!  The old trestle looks great with the new planking on it.  It has a bench at this near end.  The ride on a road bike is a bit vibratory as you cross the planks, but its no big deal.  But as the sign shows, the wood can be very slippery when wet, especially for bicyclists!

A view from on the bridge, still looking West toward town.  I stood in one of the two opposing "observation decks" that protrude from the main walkway area of the bridge while taking this photo.

Turning to my left (South) from the same spot I took the preceding photo from, you get a nice view of the river and the First Street bridge.

At the end of the bridge, you have to go down two flights of steps to reach street level at a parking lot at Main Street.  There is a concrete trough in the center of the stairway that allows people to push their bikes up & down the steps without carrying them.  (Nice touch)  You can see Sycamore Street (which is only one block long) on the left that you travel on after going down the stairway and crossing Main Street.  The next block has the small sidewalk that goes around the construction storage area.  Beyond the block of construction, you can see the path continues between Downing Street & Roosevelt Avenue.  After crossing Roosevelt, there is one of the small mild climbs that I mentioned previously.  On foot it is nothing, but most will use their lower gears when on a bicycle.

After coming down the stairway from the trestle bridge, you can take a quick detour as I did for this photo.  If you turn back to the right once you are down the stairway and walk through the grassy area, you will end up here at Lock Nine Park.  You have a great view of the trestle bridge from here and you can see the First Street Bridge beyond it.  For those that would like to take a short break in downtown Piqua on a morning or afternoon ride or walk, there are a couple of nice coffee shop cafes, a pizza joint and a restaurant I like within a few blocks of this location.  One is Winan's Chocolates which is 2-1/2 blocks West from here on Water Street on your right.  This would be my wife's favorite... its the chocolates you know.  For you pizza junkies, Cassano's Pizza is just past Winan's.  The other is Javawocky Cafe which is 1-1/2 blocks to the North on Main Street on your right.  This would be my preference, as they have cheesecake. (Oh yeah!)  Ride your bike around to the back of Javawocky Cafe, as they have outdoor tables and better places to put your bike there.  If you are interested in a meal, you will find Don's Too on Main Street on the square just before you get to Javawocky Cafe.  You can eat outside here also under an awning on the building and lean your bikes along the rail by the awning.  Just don't drink beer if you are going to get back on your bike!  (You CAN get a DUI on a bicycle.)

Here is the crossing at Roosevelt Avenue heading back up to the original railway line level.

After coming from Roosevelt Avenue, you will pass a couple of benches and find yourself at the pedestrian bridge that crosses College Street.  Originally, there was an old concrete trestle here that was torn down and replaced by this new prefabricated bridge.  Directly across this bridge is where you will find French Park.

Here is a street view of the pedestrian bridge taken from the corner of Water & College Streets.  The tearing down of the old trestle was a HUGE improvement to this area for the city.

For years, this was a fenced in storage area for French Oil Mill.  It was full of old machinery and other metallic junk.  Anyone that traveled down to this end of Water Street at that time would have agreed this area was one big eyesore.  The French family donated this land to be reclaimed into a city park.  This was a GREAT improvement to this area.  This neighborhood has to love it.  It really is quite nice.  There are plenty of picnic tables here.  To get to the park from the path, there are two paved ramps (spurs) that go from that path down to the park which is at street level.  Which ramp you take depends upon which direction you are traveling from on the path.  They both end up at the same location.

Past the pedestrian bridge over College Street and French Park is one of the most serene areas of the path that is within the central part of town.  It makes a slow bend to the left (when traveling West) and then goes under Sunset Avenue via this new tunnel.  In order for this tunnel to be built, the old bridge which had clearance for a train was taken out and the entire street was lowered for over 100 yards in either direction.  It shut down Sunset Avenue for a long time as we residents of Piqua remember quite clearly.  It was worth it though, not just for this linear park, but for the improvements to Sunset Avenue as well.  Many people who live in this vicinity access the path by walking down the embankment here on either side of the tunnel.  This does create a hazard for cyclists and runners on the path that are traveling back to the East coming out this side of the tunnel.  I have nearly hit people while on my bicycle who blindly come down these embankments without cautiously looking back through the tunnel.

Past the tunnel, you begin a very slow rise, which has a slightly more pronounced rise toward the end of it for the last 50-75 yards.  This is the last noticeable hill on the path.  Beyond this rise, the path is noticeably more open with much fewer trees close to it.

This is the crossing for R M Davis Parkway.  It is the widest street crossing on the path near and industrial park.  But don't fear, there is very little traffic here.

This is the West End of the path as you approach the parking lot.  Now who put their house there?

Looking back at the West end of the path from Spiker Road.