By: Jenny Mendoza

Xavier University will soon be welcoming a 6.5-mile mixed-use trail that links eight local neighborhoods and connects to the Little Miami Bike Trail.

The new trail, named Wasson Way, will span the neighborhoods of Evanston, Norwood, Hyde Park, Oakley, Mount Lookout, Fairfax and Mariemont.

The path will also connect to Victory Parkway, enabling people living in the neighborhoods of Walnut Hills, Avondale, North Avondale and even Roselawn and Bond Hill to reach the Wasson Way.

The trail begins at Xavier University, passes by Withrow High School, Rookwood Pavilion, Hyde Park Plaza, Ault Park and ends at the beginning of the 78 -mile Little Miami Bike Trail.

In the future, Wasson Way will also connect to Cincinnati’s riverfront via the Ohio River Way Trail.

The trail will give 120,000 people, living within one mile of the trail, access to a network of over 100 miles of bike and pedestrian trails.

With a short connector to Armleder Park near Lunken Airport, the network of trails will soon go from Coney Island to downtown, from Lunken Airport to Milford and beyond, eventually connecting to northern Ohio.

Wasson Way is currently estimating costs at around $7 million dollars. This is based on a $1.1 million-per-mile formula used elsewhere in the city and the 6.5 -mile length of the project.

There will be areas that cost less and areas that cost more, and Wasson Way is working diligently to identify and accurately estimate this project.

Projects in other parts of the country which are similar to the Wasson Way have been funded by a combination of federal, state and local public funding in addition to nonprofit foundation dollars and private citizen funds.

Wasson Way organizers will host a community reveal party from 6 to 10 p.m. on Oct. 18 at Hyde Park Floral and Garden Center. Attendees will be able to view professional renderings of the trail from the design workshops.

Anyone interested in learning more about the Wasson Way program is encouraged to attend the reveal party.