NAPOLEON, Ohio — It used to be a more industrial area of Napoleon. But, Front Street is expected to become a growing entertainment district with some long-overdue improvements.
The city of Napoleon received an $800,000 Transportation Alternatives Program grant from the Ohio Department of Transportation.
With it, the city will extend the bike path from Ritter Park along the Maumee River all the way to the intersection of Perry and Front streets in downtown Napoleon. Another walking path will connect the neighborhoods on the west side of town to that trail as well.
As an added perk, the improvements will connect this area of Napoleon with the statewide Buckeye Trail System.
"It's conveniently located right on the Buckeye Trail System, so anybody walking that path will be able to use this path to walk into our downtown," Napoleon City Manager Joel Mazur said.
At the same time, the city is seeing this stretch of Front Street slowly being redeveloped by local businesses moving in.
While connecting this road with that trail system, the city is also planning to repave Front Street and create additional street-side parking for these new businesses that have grown after Napoleon established an outdoor refreshment area.
"We're seeing some improvements in the business community and investments from the business community, so the city wants to take part in some of that investment and help enhance the experience for people that visit and people that live here," Mazur said.
The Front Street repaving project and the new pedestrian walkway and bike path will be bid out separately to contractors sometime this week but will be managed by the city of Napoleon. It is expected to be wrapped up sometime this summer.