I haven't seen anything about this online, and wanted to give folks a heads-up. Last Sunday (Sept. 9) we were coming back from downtown and discovered that Nine-Mile-Run trail is closed between Old Browns Hill Road and the bridge. There is heavy construction equipment present and it looks like they are widening the trail and/or improving drainage. Fortunately there was no construction work at the time, and we decided to go through (the alternative being to go up the hill to Beechwood Blvd). The only problem going through was the Jersey barrier across the trail, separating the construction zone from the trail to the bridge. The trail at that point is in a cut, so getting our tandem on the other side of the barrier was a challenge.
Anyone have any idea how long the construction is supposed to last?
I was on my first GAP ride on Monday, Sept 10 and ran into this barrier w/ my loaded bike. Getting it up and around the barrier was a hassle, but less of a hassle than going back up Nine Mile Run to grab Beechwood Blvd. It looked to me like they were putting a road in as the trail was widened substantially and graded. More houses maybe?
The next phase of Summerset at Frick is slated to go on the slag heaps on the opposite side of 9 mile run as the current housing development. In short, more houses, several miles of wonderful trails in Frick park destroyed and reduced access to Frick from Swisshelm park. Yuck!
Tom Baxter of Friends of the Riverfront told me several months ago that the old metal car bridge across Nine Mile Run connecting Old Brown's Hill Rd to the little neighborhood of Duck Hollow was weak and below standards and was to be replaced within the next year.
I wonder if the work you saw was toward the construction of a new car bridge, which I understand will be upstream, along NMR, of the RR bridge? I'll have to get down there and take a look for myself.
