|
|
CONSERVATION COMMITTEE
Updated November 17, 2008 7:33 PM ET
Local Alerts and Updates
Public Meeting on Mountain Biking in Monroe County Parks
Important public meeting on mountain biking in Monroe County Parks to take
place on November 25.
Monroe County Parks Department is unveiling the preliminary master plan for
the Bay Area Parks (Ellison, Ellison Wetlands (aka Rifle Range), Tryon, Bay
Park East & West and Devil's Cove) at a public input workshop. This will be
your major opportunity to have your voice heard on some far reaching and
controversial decisions regarding these parks, and setting a precedent for the
remainder of the park system. The meeting is being held at the Penfield Town
Hall at 3100 Atlantic Avenue, just east of Jackson Road.
From 6-7 PM there is a public workshop, from 7-7:30 there is a presentation,
and from 7:30 to 8:30 is questions and comments. You do not have to speak in
public to have your views known. You can find more information on the plan and
meeting at http://www.monroecounty.gov/parks-index.php
One of the most important issues to be addressed in the revised plans will
be whether, and to what extent, mountain biking (which is now prohibited in
all County parks) will be permitted in these parks. GVC-ADK's position on
this issue, which was developed by a Chapter subcommittee, approved by our
Chapter's Executive Committee, and communicated to the Parks Department and
the engineer last spring, recommends allowing mountain biking on one of the
parks, either Tryon Park or Bay Park West. Under our policy, mountain biking
would be permitted in the selected park on a trial basis and only on a
properly designed and maintained mountain biking trail. All other mountain
biking in the County parks would remain unlawful. (The ADK-GVC policy
statement appears in its entirety below.)
The time and place of the Parks meeting are tentative.
Check back here or check the ADK hotline (987-1717), under conservation,
for any changes.
It is very important that as many
Chapter members as possible attend the public meeting on November 25 and
make their views concerning the revised master plans known, either orally or
by means of written comments submitted at or after the meeting.
We are major
users of these parks. Countless Chapter members have hiked the park trails,
and many of us have contributed our time and effort in performing various
volunteer projects in one or more of these parks. We feel that the Chapter's
policy is a sound one, since it balances the desire of some people to
mountain bike in the County parks against the ecological and safety concerns
involved in opening up all of the foot trails in the parks to mountain
biking. By attending the meeting on November 25 and making your views known,
you will show parks officials that while there are some voices in the
community who are only interested in one form of recreation in the County
parks, the majority of parks users hold a view that preserves our precious
parks resources at the same time that it provides for one group's specific
recreational interest.
|
ADK-GVC
Views on Mountain Biking in Certain Monroe County Parks
Executive Committee
Adirondack Mountain Club
Genesee Valley Chapter
October 2008
[View as PDF (210 kb)]
Currently,
mountain biking is illegal in all Monroe County Parks. However, it
has come to our attention that Monroe County has enlisted the
services of an engineering firm to develop new master plans for five
of the County parks–Ellison Park, Tryon Park, the Wetlands,
Irondequoit Bay Park East, and Irondequoit Bay Park West–and that
those plans may include provisions allowing mountain biking in some
or all of the parks in question. As an organization with a long
connection with, and an in-depth knowledge about, these parks1,
the Genesee Valley Chapter of the Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK-GVC)
considers it important to provide the following input on how the
mountain biking issue should be addressed in the forthcoming master
plans:
- ADK-GVC encourages
the responsible recreational use of the forest and water resources
of Monroe County. We believe that mountain biking is a legitimate
form of outdoor recreation which we support, provided that it is
carried on in a responsible manner.
In view of the
large amount of acreage involved in the proposed master plans, we
feel that it would be appropriate to provide for mountain biking on
some of the lands in question, provided that the place where
mountain biking is permitted, and the conditions under which it is
permitted, are established in a way that assures to the fullest
extent possible that the sport is practiced in a manner that does
not present safety hazards to the public, does not cause physical
damage to the environment of the parks, does not create undue
disturbance to park wildlife, and does not interfere with the
peaceful enjoyment of the park by other members of the public.
- We oppose a
blanket policy that would declare the existing foot trails in
Elllison Park, the Wetlands, Tryon Park, Irondequoit Bay Park East,
and Irondequoit Bay Park West to be multi-use trails, which could be
used by mountain bikers and pedestrians alike. At first glance, such
a blanket policy sounds fair to all users of the parks, but upon a
closer examination it can be seen to create several problems.
- Merely opening
all existing trails to mountain biking would create significant
safety hazards for people walking the trails, and could also raise
significant liability issues for Monroe County. Many of the
existing trails do not provide sufficient visibility to permit
mountain bikers enough time to avoid collisions with pedestrians,
and do not afford pedestrians a place to move off the trail quickly
in order to avoid being hit by a mountain biker. Members of our
Chapter have already experienced close calls with illegal bikers
approaching them from behind at considerable speed and with little
warning.
Opening existing
hiking trails to mountain biking would present a safety hazard to
mountain bikers. Mountain biking trails need to include properly
designed switchbacks at strategic locations in order to keep bikers
from riding at dangerously high speeds or losing control of their
bikes. Structures such as stairs and water diversion bars that
exist on some of the hiking trails in the County parks can be
hazardous to mountain bikers
- Declaring most or
all existing foot trails open to mountain biking would damage the
environment of the parks. The narrow grooves caused by bicycle
tires running in the same general direction as existing foot trails
increase the risk of soil erosion by creating channels for rain
water to wash soil away. Just as foot trails must be properly
designed to minimize erosion, so mountain biking trails need to be
properly designed to deal with the specific erosion problems caused
by bicycle tires. Moreover, mountain bikers often go around
structures such as stairs and water diversion bars that have been
installed to minimize soil erosion. By going around such obstacles,
mountain bikers risk damaging or destroying existing vegetation
along the sides of the trails, thus contributing to the damage
these structures are designed to prevent. (Some of these structures
on the Rifle Range Trail in the Wetlands have already been torn out
by persons unknown.)
- Mountain biking
trails must be properly maintained in order to minimize the safety
and ecological problems discussed above. However, Monroe County
does not have sufficient resources to provide trail maintenance
over a large trail system. Moreover, it is unrealistic to
expect volunteers from the mountain biking community to maintain a
very large, complex trail system.
- Mountain biking
trails should be designed and built with mountain biking in mind
to minimize the foregoing safety and ecological problems, and to
provide an interesting, challenging experience for mountain bikers.
A good example of a properly built mountain biking trail is the one
constructed on Dryer Road in the Town of Victor.
- We propose a trial
project in which a single mountain biking trail network is
designed and constructed in either Bay Park West or Tryon Park.
Those parks have sufficient hills to serve as worthwhile locations
for mountain biking trails. Construction of this trail network will
involve building new mountain biking trails and/or reconfiguring
existing foot trails, depending upon the site. Having one park
specifically designated for mountain biking may also help discourage
illegal mountain biking in the other parks. Creation and maintenance
of a single trail network would not place an undue economic burden
on the infrastructure of the County parks.
- The foregoing
trail network would be constructed and maintained by the County,
with help from volunteers. (Volunteers have been major participants
in the construction and maintenance of the Dryer Road trail system.)
It is likely that avid mountain bikers, either individually or
through the organizations to which they belong, would be able to
provide an acceptable level of trail maintenance if their efforts
were focused on a single location.
- The foregoing
trail network would be open to mountain biking as a test project. At
the end of the first year of operation, the success of the project
would be assessed by the County, with public input. If the operation
of the trail network is deemed to be acceptable, consideration could
then be given to creating a second mountain biking trail network.
- The new master
plans should provide for adequate signage making it clear to members
of the public those trails on which mountain biking is prohibited,
and those trails on which mountain biking is permitted.
|
|
|