Dear Trail Rider,Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R) has published an online survey/comment form about singletrack cycling in Forest Park. The
collected information will be used to inform the final recommendations
from the Forest Park Singletrack Cycling Advisory Committee to Commissioner Fish and Director Santner. Comments will be received until Wednesday, May 5, 5:00pm.
It is critical for cyclists to make their voice
heard on this important issue. The future of mountain bikers' access to
Forest Park will, in part, be determined by input from the public.
The survey can be found here (click on the "Comment Form" link). It
requires that you register as a PortlandOnline user and will take
between 5 to 15 minutes to complete. It may be useful to review the
proposed Trail Actions Map (PDF) before completing the
comment form.
The current proposal includes several elements
which we support, including: -
Construction of
relatively short segments of trail in the south part of the park, Reconfiguring
some of the Firelanes to create a more singletrack like experience Formalizing
access to the Tolinda and lower Gasline trails; A number of
management recommendations that will require significant effort and
commitment on the part of the cycling community.
In
general terms, we support most elements of the current proposal. However,
we think it should go further in providing short-term access to
singletrack trails, which was a stated goal of the committee. We
see this as a significant gap in the current proposal. We
encourage you to address the following issues in your comments:
Providing short-term, select-day access to a limited
amount of existing singletrack trails within the park, in
particular lower Maple Trail (between Leif Erikson and Saltzman
Rd) and Ridge Trail; Adding access to Firelane 7
and Water Line to the current list of recommendations; Development
of a significant contour line trail accessible to bikes (5-10
miles) over the long-term;
Thanks for taking the time to
complete the survey and making your voice heard!
Tom Archer NWTA President, Advocacy Director [email protected] |