OSMP is Considering Taking Action to Resolve User Conflict on the Springbrook Loop.
They want to hear from you.
A couple of minutes of your time today could ensure your access to this trail for years to come. OSMP wants to hear from you by submitting your comments:
Have you experienced a negative experience on the Springbrook trail?
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What was the nature of the negative experience?
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Do you think action needs to be taken?
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What is your reaction to members of the trail using public that want to have a "bike free" experience on the trail?
Submit your comments here. We would ask that you give them what they are asking for by considering the questions we have posed above.
The Backstory
The City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks Dept (OSMP) conducted a user conflict study on the Springbrook Loop trail in 2009. The report, which can be read here, noted that user conflict was observed with mountain bikes 6% of the time, only one percentage point away from the lofty compliance rate of 95%.
When the report was presented to the Open Space Board of Trustees(OSBT), there were members of the public that decried the report proof positive that the effort was a complete failure and steps must be taken to rectify this untenable situation.
Since that OSBT meeting, a small but steady stream of Boulder residents have shown up at subsequent OSBT meetings complaining that they have been displaced on this new trail by the presence of mountain bikers. Nevermind that that hikers enjoy two-thirds of the OSMP trail system as hiker only, or the presence of the Goshawk Ridge Trial nearby is hiker only.
So OSMP has been directed to "look at options" to address these conflict issues. Some of the options that are being considered:
- Changing the yield rules on the trail
- imposing temporal restrictions to separate use (ie Betasso bike restricted on certain days)
- imposing directional use on bikes and maybe hikers too
BMA has never advocated for separated use, we feel that multiple use is the best way to manage humans in a wildland context where the integrity of the ecosystem is a high priority. Putting up with a few more smiling faces on the trail is the price we pay to be "out where the wild things are" and separated use trails is an acknowledgement that we can't or don't want to get along with each other. We believe these issues were resolved during the TSA process, where issues like these belong. At this point, we see this more as a "solution looking for a problem", as our observations on the trail seem to indicate a relatively happy user population.
But that is our opinion, and OSMP and OSBT already know it. They want to know what YOU think about the situation. Thanks for reading this far and submitting your comments! |
