Sensory Trail Creates Unique Experience Along Ohio Rail-Trail

Eric Oberg (RTC) — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 14:31:00 GMT

On April 22, 2010, Earth Day brought the official opening of some of the more interesting trail amenities we've seen along the Fairfield Heritage Trail in Lancaster, Ohio. Adjacent to the trail is the campus of Forest Rose School, a Fairfield County Board of Developmental Disabilities (FCBDD) facility that provides special needs children with educational and life skills opportunities from birth to age 22. Where the trail meets the school, the Lancaster Sensory Trail has taken shape.

The idea behind the trail was to build an outdoor experience, easily accessible for the students, that would stimulate and engage their senses. The first phase of the project, now open, includes items such as herb pots, fragrant flowers and bushes, bird feeders and houses, native trees, grasses and art pieces. A local Lions Club also installed a rough bark tactile display that includes Braille interpretation. Also installed are six large, permanently mounted outdoor musical instruments that have been custom designed with their own tethered mallets. The entire trail is wheelchair accessible.

The project has been a multi-agency collaboration since its beginnings in 2008. Spearheaded by FCBDD, other agencies integral in its success include Fairfield County Soil & Water Conservation District, U.S. Natural Resource Conservation Service, city of Lancaster, Southeast Ohio Center for Independent Living and the Heart of Ohio Resource Conservation and Development Council. Major additional funds were raised through in-kind local volunteer efforts as well as two successful 5K running events. The innovative project was so impressive that it was awarded the 2009 Project of the Year award by the North Central Association of Resource Conservation and Development Councils.

While phase one has been an enormous success, the group is not resting on its laurels and has an ambitious plan for expanding the Sensory Trail. Future additions are to include a bridge over the nearby creek, wetland restoration as well as a wheelchair-accessible treehouse! As one very early supporter of the Fairfield Heritage Trail noted, it's amazing to see the types of innovative community-based projects that seem to sprout off of a seemingly simple rail-trail.

Photo: Musical equipment along the Lancaster Sensory Trail. Photo by Bob Williams, Fairfield Heritage Trail Association.

New Access Point Makes Trail Use Easier for Cleveland Residents

Eric Oberg (RTC) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:08:00 GMT

The Morgana Run Trail in Cleveland's Slavic Village neighborhood recently opened a new access point allowing numerous residents a closer, safer way to get onto the popular 3.5-mile urban trail. The Morgana Bluff Trail access work was finished in early November on Blanche Avenue adjacent to the Boys and Girls Club. The beautifully designed project includes a paved ADA accessible ramp, reclaimed sandstone stairs and an excellent textured stone retaining wall. This project will allow hundreds of neighborhood residents to access the trail directly from Blanche Avenue instead of having to go along streets to the much busier Broadway Avenue or 49th Street access points. The proximity to the Boys and Girls Club, as well as the soon-to-be-constructed Mound Elementary School, will make this a crucial link for the safe travel of children in the area to both their school and recreational activities.

This project is a great example of identifying community needs along an existing trail. The Blanche Avenue access point was being used by the neighborhood already via a dilapidated set of concrete stairs. The heavy use of this area highlighted the need for a formally designed access point, which brought Slavic Village Development, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Active Living by Design and the Ohio to Erie Canalway Association together to fund the project and get it built.

This type of construction project, which better integrates and connects the Morgana Run Trail with the neighborhoods it traverses, are what really help transform a single trail project into a truly integral part of a community.

Photo of Morgana Bluff Connector by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy

RTC TrailBlog : accessibility

Sensory Trail Creates Unique Experience Along Ohio Rail-Trail

New Access Point Makes Trail Use Easier for Cleveland Residents