Greenways are corridors of linear open space with trees and other vegetation that connect people and places together and wildlife with their habitat.
Review the Mill Creek Watershed Greenway Master Plan 3.18 MB (3,339,749 bytes)
Benefits of the Mill Creek Greenway System
The Mill Creek greenway program provides a sound strategy for achieving multiple environmental, economic and social objectives. The development of a Mill Creek greenway system will improve water quality, aquatic and wildlife habitat, and overall health of the Mill Creek corridor ecosystem. The greenway system will physically change the face of the landscape over time, eliminating urban blight and creating a more beautiful and enjoyable experience for citizens and neighborhoods.
The greenway system provides new and renewed park, recreation, and alternative transportation opportunities. Its creation provides "soft engineering" methods of managing stormwater, preventing pollution and reducing damage caused by flooding. The greenway system will stimulate economic activity, increase property values, and significantly improve the quality of life in inner-city and first ring suburban neighborhoods. The greenway system supports and enhances the City’s and County’s efforts to retain and attract new residents.
The Mill Creek Greenway is multi-objective, and incorporates the public process into all phases of its development and vision for a 28-mile long series of greenway trails; beginning in Butler County, traveling through the heart of the region to the confluence of Mill Creek and the mighty Ohio River.
Multi-Objective Greenway Development Includes:
Ecological Regeneration
Clean Water/Healthy Habitat
Brownfields Cleanup and Redevelopment
Stormwater Management and Flood Damage Reduction
Land Use Planning and Floodplain Management
Environmental Education
Job Training and Employment
Parks/Recreation
Economic Development and Public Participation
Public Health and Safety
Land Management and Stewardship
Housing and Community Revitalization
Alternative Transportation: Hike/Bike Trails and Transportation Hubs
Mill Creek Greenway Program – Active/Pilot Project Summary
City of Cincinnati Projects
Caldwell-Seymour Greenway Trail - Develops a 1.5-mile recreational greenway trail along Mill Creek and its Seymour Creek tributary, connecting Caldwell Recreation area and Seymour Parks together and improves the ecological health of the streams, parks and a small wetland.This greenway project will support City financial investments in redevelopment of Carthage Mills and the Ridgewood Industrial Park, the Center Hill Landfill phytoremediation and streambank stabilization project along Mill Creek, and bicycle lanes and a public transit bus turnaround at Este Ave. and W. Seymour. Find out more about the Caldwell-Seymour Greenway Trail.
Center Hill Greenway - As part of the city’s community development team, MCRP has proposed an additional .7 mile of hike-bike and greenway trail, as well as a 200 to 400 foot-wide greenway buffer south of Ridgewood Industrial Park in Elmwood Place. This effort is a key component of the Port Authority’s application for clean-up funds for Center Hill Landfill, and the city’s efforts to redevelop the 28-acre landfill property.
Queen City Centre-Salway Park Greenway - Creates a new landscaped area along the river at the Queen City Centre shopping area, between the Kroger store and Mill Creek; develops a 1.3-mile greenway trail connecting Mitchell Ave. to a potential loop trail around Salway Park; and provides ecological improvements to the creek and its riparian corridor. Find out more about the Queen City Centre-Salway Park Greenway.
South Mill Creek Greenway - Connects Salway Park to the Ohio River via a 5.5-mile greenway trail within the stream corridor of Mill Creek, provides extensive landscaping, protects and restores functioning wetlands within the channel, and improves water quality and riparian environmental conditions. There is need here for soil bioengineering treatment of streambanks in several locations, and any hike/bike trail development will require community involvement and participation in project planning and development. Find out more about the South Mill Creek Greenway.
Suburban and Tributary Projects Summary
MCRP is also playing a consulting role, serving as fiscal agent, and conducting water quality monitoring and volunteer planting and clearing days at greenway sites throughout the Mill Creek watershed.
West Fork Mill Creek/Woodlawn Greenway - Village of Woodlawn has worked collaboratively with MCRP to create the first phase of their 20-acre city park ecological improvements and .7-mile long hike-bike trail along the West Fork tributary of Mill Creek. Partial funding for the project was the result of successful MCRP efforts with ODNR’s NatureWorks program and through OEPA’s Section 319 Nonpoint Source Water Pollution Prevention Program. The trail currently connects to Hamilton County Park District's Glenwood Gardens to the north and will eventually connect to the City of Wyoming's West Fork Mill Creek Trail. The Village of Woodlawn is currently working with the West Fork Mill Creek Greenway Committee to create phase two of the greenway trail and restoration improvements within the Village of Woodlawn. For information about the West Fork Mill Creek Greenway Committe contact the committe chairperson. View West Fork Mill Creek reports and plans for the Village of Woodlawn.
East Fork Mill Creek and West Chester Township Greenway - Butler County’s Department of Environmental Services and MCRP have worked together to install in-stream structures and bank restoration to support ecological improvements in one of the fastest-growing counties in the United States. A one-mile stretch of East Fork was completed in 2002. Butler County is working with elected officials, county/city staff, citizens and business owners to establish eco-friendly zoning and regulatory incentives that improve water quality in the headwaters region of Mill Creek and along the East Fork tributary.
Liberty Township Greenway - Local residential developers and citizens are working together to utilize best management practices and preserve open space while providing recreational opportunities in a 10-acre area for residents in new suburban developments in Liberty Township.
Lower West Fork Mill Creek Greenway - University of Miami graduate students completed a streambank and ecological/land use inventory for Lockland, Arlington Heights, Wyoming and other communities along a 3.5-mile stretch of the lower West Fork tributary of Mill Creek in 2001.
Springfield Township Greenway - MCRP, local citizens, Hamilton County Parks and Springfield Township staff began discussions to expand recreational open space north of Hillside Park near the Ronald Reagan Highway. Springfield Township is also working on organizing a citizen’s group to connect with Mill Creek Greenway implementation of the Caldwell-Seymour Greenway Trail, to improve walking connections to Winton Woods along the upper West Fork tributary of Mill Creek, and to design ecological and recreational improvements to Warder Nursery near Finneytown.
Norwood Greenway - City of Norwood Tree Board, city staff, and MCRP conducted an open space inventory in 2001, and are working to establish collaborative relationships that could "daylight" currently underground water sources of Mill Creek tributaries and use sustainable design practices in brownfields redevelopment efforts scheduled in Norwood through 2007.
Future Projects
Due to limited funding, MCRP site work on two other important projects that are part of the longer-term vision for the greenway program have not been scheduled, though conceptual development is still underway. Completion of these projects will be more complex because of the industrial histories of the sites and their larger geographic scope.
Mill Creek-Ohio River Confluence Park and Connection to Downtown Riverfront - A new 25-acre park at the confluence of Mill Creek and the Ohio River, between Queensgate and Lower Price Hill, connecting to a two- to three-mile-long greenway trail utilizing one or more abandoned rail lines. The proposed greenway trail will connect this area to the downtown riverfront, East End bike trails, and to the Ohio River Trail.
Silver Oak Estates Park - A new Silver Oak Estates Park, with potential commercial or light industrial mixed-use development, will employ and serve local residents on a 27-acre tract upslope of Elda Landfill. The proposed park will benefit the Winton Hills neighborhoods of Silver Oak Estates, Findlater Gardens and Winton Terrace. Trail development will connect to existing bike lanes and to the Caldwell-Seymour Greenway Trail.
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