Tim Moloney, Metro Parks executive director, said there will be three to five mountain bicycling trails at the new Quarry Trails Metro Park, each three-quarters of a mile to a mile long and in varying degrees of difficulty.

Metro Parks is spending $400,000 to build mountain bicycling trails at the new Quarry Trails Metro Park, complete with viewing areas for people who want to watch.

"We want this to be a spectator event as well," said Tim Moloney, Metro Parks executive director.

He said the climbing wall at Scioto Audubon Metro Park often has as many spectators as participants.

Moloney said there will be three to five trails, each three-quarters of a mile to a mile long and in varying degrees of difficulty, with riders dealing with jumps, ramps and obstacles.

Jody Dzuranin, the marketing committee chair for the Ohio-to-Erie Trail board, said the trails would be attractive not only for local residents but for those riding the Ohio-to-Erie Trail, most of which has been completed from Cincinnati to Cleveland through Columbus. Trails will connect the park to the Ohio-to-Erie Trail.

"It’s an active adventure metro park," she said.

Moloney said the course could be open by this fall.

"This has a chance of being the first publicly accessed area in the park," he said.

The Metro Parks board of commissioners on Tuesday voted on the design and build contract with the Kleingers Group, of Westerville, for the project.

Heidi Coulter, president of the Central Ohio Mountain Biking Organization, said that she believes the park on the west bank of the Scioto River near Upper Arlington will be a regional draw, but close to the heart of Columbus.

"I think demand will be very high," she said.

Meanwhile, Coulter said ground should be broken this spring on the new mountain biking track at the city’s Berliner Park south of downtown Columbus.

Metro Parks is spending $2.5 million this year on projects at the new Quarry Trails Metro Park. The work is to include utilities, connecting ponds on the site to the Scioto River, redirecting a ditch, creating a single-track bicycling area, and building an observation deck and parking lot near a waterfall.

The rest of the first phase of Quarry Trails is 62 acres, with work to be completed by spring 2021. The park's total acreage will be 220.

Wagenbrenner Development plans to build a mix of housing and other buildings near the park. The entire site, including the park, is more than 600 acres.

mferench@dispatch.com

@MarkFerenchik