Stretch of bike path to be done during fall

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Mitchell’s bike path will grow a bit this fall.

Phase one of a five-step process to connect bike paths in the city while offering new, more scenic paths will be completed, according to Terry Johnson, deputy director of the Public Works Department.

Recently, the City Council awarded a $409,619.49 bid to Commercial Asphalt, of Mitchell, to install an 8-footwide section of the path in northwest Mitchell near the Lakeview Golf Course.

This concrete path will connect to an existing path at Lakeview Municipal Golf Course. From there, the path will stretch west to Ohlman Street and then north to connect with another existing path at the intersection with Indian Village road.

That 2,000-foot path will be completed before the snow flies, Johnson said.

In the future, five other sections will be added around Mitchell, finally uniting all the bike paths in the city.

“Mitchell’s really had bike paths for many years,” Johnson said. “And we’ll continue to add, depending on when we get funding.”

Phase two will begin at Lake Mitchell’s West End Bridge and stretch as far north and east around the lake as funding allows. The city has a grant of $500,000 and city funds of about $300,000 for these two projects.

Johnson is himself an avid biker and walker. He said city staffers work with a Bike Path Committee to get input on where paths should be installed.

“The biggest thing that the bike riders like that we heard was bike paths off the beaten path,” he said.

They don’t want to ride past homes and yards, Johnson said. They want scenic views, which is why these first two projects are near Lake Mitchell.

Bike paths were started in residential, business and industrial areas. Some of the paths are on sidewalks and other multi-use trails, Johnson said.

Bike riding is allowed on all city sidewalks except those in the downtown area. No bike riding is allowed on sidewalks along Main, Rowley and Lawler streets between First and Seventh avenues.

While most of the paths are now concrete or asphalt, there are some made of gravel, Johnson said. Some people want to experience nature in as pristine a condition as possible, he said.

The city has installed a historic bridge that was salvaged from rural Davison County. The structure, which the city will pay for with a $150,000 grant and about $50,000 in city funds, was installed over the canal near The Island residential development to serve as a bicycle-and-pedestrianonly bridge.

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