Amy Acton to lead new effort to link parks, trails and waterways
Dr. Amy Acton, the former director of the Ohio Department of Health, has been tapped to lead a new nonprofit group that will guide a plan to connect Franklin County’s trail network with five stream corridors.
Acton, who became a well-known daily fixture on television and a reassuring voice during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 as the director of the Ohio Department of Health, will be president and CEO of RAPID 5, an effort that was launched last year.
RAPID 5 — which stands for Rivers and Parks + Imagination + Design — outlines ideas for improving links between the Big Darby Creek, Alum Creek, Big Walnut Creek and Scioto and Olentangy river corridors and a unified greenways system. There are more than 200 miles of trails in Franklin County and 146 miles of rivers, creeks and tributaries.
RAPID 5’s goal is to put parks and greenways within mile-and-a-half of all Franklin County residents
The RAPID 5 project, which is a collaboration of the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission, Urban Land Institute of Columbus, Metro Parks and the city of Columbus, was unveiled in July 2021 at the Columbus Metropolitan Club. The goal is to put parks and greenways, including pedestrians and bike trails, within a mile-and-a-half of all Franklin County residents.
Five design companies put together visions for each stream corridor that includes ideas such as an inn and event center and a whitewater adventure experience along the Scioto River, a new cultural gathering place at Bethel Road and the Olentangy River, and connecting trails to bus and trolley services in the Big Darby area, establishing it as a regional destination.
Amy Acton: Two years after COVID-19 pandemic began, Dr. Amy Acton reflects on her place in history
Amy Acton: Amy Acton voted winner in Clash of Columbus competition for help with COVID-19
Amy Acton: ‘This is the ultimate public health project’
During an interview at North Bank Park Thursday morning with The Dispatch, Acton said she became interested in the effort when Kerstin Carr, a friend who holds a leadership position at the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission, dropped a book off about the RAPID 5 vision.
“To me, this is the ultimate public health project,” she said.
Acton said she thought about Crandall and Mill Creek parks near where she grew up in Youngstown and how important they were to such an urban area. She decided she wanted to get involved.
“It was very serendipitous,” Acton said.
This is a time to bring the community back together, and this is one way to do so, Acton said, noting: “Parks are for everyone, common ground.”
Keith Myers, chair of the RAPID 5 board, which he is assembling, said Acton expressed an interest in getting involved.
“She is quite passionate about the project,” said Myers, who is vice president of planning, architecture and real estate at Ohio State University.
Myers said there’s always a lot of conversation about how parks and rivers can help generate economic development. Acton sees parks from the public health perspective, he said.
RAPID 5 will be a 501(c)3 nonprofit
RAPID 5 is being established as a 501(c)3 nonprofit. Along with a governing board, Acton said a staff is being put together.
Acton said she will help bring communities, nonprofits, philanthropic groups. the private sector and others together on ideas and projects. “There has to be a community effort at the table,” she said.
Amy Acton: Months after leaving office, Dr. Amy Acton calls COVID-19 a humanitarian crisis
Amy Acton: Fear and uncertainty are as insidious as COVID; Ohio adds 1,150 more new cases
William Murdock, executive director of the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission, said Acton has a way of connecting with people through her experiences and storytelling.
Amy Acton’s ’empathy is not an act’
“Her empathy is not an act,” Myers said.
RAPID 5 will not be raising money to implement projects itself, but to help connect communities and others, including environmental groups, to fund them, Myers said.
Acton said the effort also will help create small businesses, particularly minority small businesses.
Murdock said the effort will have equity in mind to help people feel more connected with nature.
Myers said local leaders looked at the Atlanta BeltLine effort, a system of public parks, trails, transit and affordable housing along a 22-mile rail corridor. Atlanta BeltLine oversees the planning and development.
Acton, 56, of Bexley, resigned as the state’s health director in June 2020 and from the administration of Gov. Mike DeWine in August of that year after people opposed to mask mandates and other COVID-19 pandemic protections she recommended for the state began protesting outside her home.
She then worked as the director of Kind Columbus for the Columbus Foundation, and considered running for the U.S. Senate. In March, Acton was named one of USA TODAY’s Women of the Year.
Myers said the effort Acton will be leading is one whose time has come for Greater Columbus.
“I wish we could quit apologizing for not having mountains and oceans and lakes,” Myers said. “Let’s take advantage of the assets we do have instead of being wistful about what we don’t have.”
Acton said the Columbus area is at the cusp of a transformational moment, with the metro area’s population projected to grow to 3 million by 2050.
“We are at that place where the stars are aligning,” she said.
Read More: Amy Acton to lead new effort to link parks, trails and waterways