Columbus-area outdoor enthusiasts have had to take a detour around the 14-mile Olentangy Trail near the Ohio State University campus for over a year.
The previously closed segment of the trail has now re-opened, Ohio State University announced Monday in a brief press release .
Access to the trail from campus is only available at Woody Hayes Drive and 12th Avenue, but additional access points near the Sisson Hall pedestrian bridge are slated to become available early next month. The pedestrian bridge crossing the Olentangy River has also been re-opened, OSU said in the release, but that closure had only been ongoing since July 1 .
The temporary closure of the Olentangy Trail was first slated to last around six months , then the detour was extended in November last year.
The Dispatch previously reported that local cyclists raised concerns about the detour route that put bicyclists next to vehicular traffic, including passing busy on- and off-ramps of Highway 315.
The closure of the trail was a side effect of a $68.1 million project to mitigate the risk of the Olentangy River spilling onto campus during an extreme storm .