Dublin planners hear detailed overview of city’s Signature Trail alignment and design

Transportation planner JM Rayburn briefed the Dublin Planning and Zoning Commission on the Dublin Signature Trail Study, a council-adopted plan intended to link the city from Sawmill Road on the east to the proposed passenger rail station on the west. "In total, we engaged over 500 people for input on the signature trail study," Rayburn said, summarizing outreach that included 13 public events and online surveys.

Rayburn described a preferred alignment that touches major destinations—Darrie Fields, Coffin Park and the future John Shields Parkway extension—and connects with regional routes such as Rapid 5/Scioto Trail and the Olentangy Trail. The plan divides the corridor into typologies for design and implementation: an urban typology (35-foot preferred width), a park/nature preserve typology (27-foot preferred width) and a suburban/new development typology (33-foot preferred width). He said the shared-use path component is planned as a 16-foot-wide path with an adjacent 6-foot sidewalk in many segments to separate speeds and uses.

The study frames implementation as a multi-decade effort: staff broke the corridor into more than 20 implementable segments and recommended beginning in the West to create early momentum while coordinating with capital projects identified in the city’s capital improvement plan. Rayburn noted some phases will depend on external infrastructure (for example, culvert work under SR-33 and the John Shields Parkway extension) and that detailed design will determine final alignments in constrained areas. The study and supporting materials are posted on the city’s Strategic Studies webpage under Transportation & Mobility.