Bowmont Park 2009 update
April 23rd was the spring meeting of the Bowmont Park Committee. There has been a fury of construction on the park last fall that is scheduled to continue in the spring and summer of 2009. These improvements include:
- Extending the paved trail network
- Improvement and possible expansion of the off-leash areas
- The installation of several viewing platforms through the park with extension of pathways to these platforms
- Improvement of gravel trail drainage
- Closure of some existing trails
- Improvement of signage and by-law enforcement
For those of you who ride in Bowmont Park you have seen many changes over the last year. CMBA has received mixed information about what trails are open and which have been destroyed. The good news is that the City of Calgary has asked for a GPS map of the trails CMBA would like to remain open or created. They have also agreed to allow CMBA volunteers to work on some of these trails and build them to IMBA trail standards. This will allow the users to build the trails as we would like to see them instead of a paved, gravel highway. Although the official city policy is “multi-use trails” we can help direct development by using IMBA standards and providing the volunteer labour as we have done in Fish Creek Park.
3 things we need from the CMBA membership:
- A volunteer to GPS all the trails in the park we would like to keep open. The more the better so if we lose some we still have lots left. This needs to be done before June 1 so it can be submitted to the City and discussed at the July meeting
- Volunteer labour to help with trail building when the time comes. This is how we will have control over the area and how the trails are built.
- A nearby resident and avid rider in the park willing to sit on the board. Although CMBA has a spot, we really need someone who knows the park inside and out to represent riders in the park. I cannot truly represent the riders in the area having ridden there once.
Thanks.
City to acquire more land in the Bowmont area
This article showed up in the Calgary Herald the other day:
The city's 30-year effort to acquire a gravel operation at the edge of Bowmont Park and turn it into green space will wrap up in June.
The city has decided to expropriate the land after repeated attempts to purchase it failed.
"It's a critical link because it forms the eastern entrance to Bowmont Park," said Doug Marter, manager of parks planning with the city. "It's been an area of interest for some time. There's a lot of community support for it. It's an integral piece of the overall parks system."
Previous deals to purchase the 21-hectare northwest property--which lies at the east end of the park between the Bow River and an escarpment--have fallen through, so the city registered its intent to expropriate the land in January.
The owner of the site didn't return calls Wednesday.
By the end of June, the city will have title to the land, and 90 days after that, possession.
The price for the property won't be disclosed until the closing date, but Al Klippert Ltd. and the city negotiated a deal three years ago for $5.5 million.
Marter said that because the site was under a mining licence, which lapsed a couple of years ago, it will need to be graded, covered with topsoil and seeded as part of the remediation required. Since the city will do that work, the cost will be factored into the price, he said.
Three years ago, that work, including removing buildings and equipment, was estimated at $2.5 million, and since it was being done by the owner, it was included in the $5.5-million price.
"It takes a long, long time to go through the process,"he said Ald. Dale Hodges, who represents the area.
Marter said that once the city is in possession of the land, it will begin to develop a site master plan. That will include what kind of uses will be allowed. The process will include public consultation.
I wonder what this will mean for the trails in the area?
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Clean my bike? I'm sorry, I don't think I understand...
Bowmont Park
The city has been trying to exproriate that land for the last 5 years and it will be another 5 years before it is finally completed. Some members of the Bowmount committee don't think it will ever happen.
Regardless of the time line, it was agreed that the area will be returned as much as possible to a natural state including some trails, walkways and ponds. It will be a very long process but good for everyone involved in the park including CMBA riders.
I think you mean "flurry"...
No responses offering help, eh? The cyclists who ride in that area on a regular basis have been watching as their trail system has been dismantled. Now comes a request from the CMBA for details of their favourite trails, to be given over to the same local government that is responsible for removing those same trails. The City's published plan includes very little trail in the area beyond paved paths and very wide unpaved trails. It would cost a lot in time and money to reclaim all the little sections of singletrack in the park. It's much cheaper to de-commission the few undesignated trails that you know people use on a regular basis, or convert them into 8' wide multi-use pathways...
CMBA sits on the board - does that mean we have a binding resolution in-hand protecting all of the existing undesignated singletrack trails? Half the trails? One-third? 10%? Have we had any success with saving/expanding the singletrack in the area? Looking back at the last 5 years of Bowmont posts on the CMBA site, we've caved on everything. We haven't actually been consulted on the existence of trails, we've been told what the City is going to do, and asked to endorse it. Perhaps that is why the CMBA has so little credibility with the local mountain biking population.
Cooperation has gotten us what?
Well, that's a lot to be thankful for!
What exactly is the city going to use the GPS tracks for, and more importantly, will it be in the best interests of Calgary mountain bikers? Until those questions can be answered, I wouldn't expect a whole lot of support from the local riding community.
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Clean my bike? I'm sorry, I don't think I understand...
Bowmont Park
I am interested in what the mtn biking community would like to do about this. Please add your comments...
Bowmont fence sitters
Well, it looks like the city is throwing you a bone. Why not GPS the trails you want to keep and make a plan to keep them maintained and open? Maybe start with some signage on the trailhead asking local riders to pony up. I suppose if the local riding population isn't interested in offering their time or opinions, then they probably have little interest in what the city ultimately decides to do with the trails.
Fence sitters let others make their decision for them.