KD5NRH

I wish I had some old photos of the gazebo with its "scenic overlook" from about 15-20 years ago; the gazebo is still around, but the scenic overlook started sliding off into the river within 2 years of construction, and after 4-5 years of that, they finally hauled out the remains and pretended it never happened.

The "Bosque River Trail" isn't even finished yet (it was supposed to be completed in March) and it's already showing signs that those who do not remember history keep getting elected to the City Council.

The last couple of days, we've had some moderate rainfall. A bit more than we usually see this time of year, but about what we expect a couple times a month in the spring.


Somewhere under all that mud is a nice, 6-foot wide concrete path. I was standing in the city park when I took this shot, and as you can see, the trail just sort of dead ends over there on the other side of the drainage ditch. You can either carry your bike through the soupy mud or cross the state highway up there on the bridge to get from the park to the south end of the trail.


From the other side of the bridge. There's not really a parking area over here yet, nor is there any good way to get on the concrete from the street, short of carrying the bike across a 6' gap of gooey muddy clay.


That almost wipeout track is mine from this morning. Anything less than 35s and I'd probably have been limping home. The mud is about 2" deep over the concrete, and roughly the consistency of snot.


Near the north end of the trail. Deep mud over the concrete again and a wood-plank bridge.


I guess the architects don't really know what they've allowed their name to be placed on.

SCROUDS

I would write Schrickel, Rollins and Associates, Inc in an open letter copied to the local papers letting them know how much they suck.

TheHen

Those photos look a lot like our bike paths here in Eugene, OR. I guess this is some sort of national standard (or sub-standard).

genec

Can you imagine if our national highways were built with such "care."

dedhed

That's what happens when the rains come before the stabilizing vegetation takes hold. Landscaping/sodding/seeding is usually the last part of a project. If it isn't "finished" yet, then whomever is reponsible for construction managment of the project needs to make sure mud removal, erosion control, and seeding is, at the least, put on the punch list, to be taken care of before final payment to the contractor. The construction manager is most likely the consultant or the DOT, I would start with them first, while also contacting the media and elected officials.

KD5NRH

Unfortunately, that won't help with the biggest issue; according to two different city council members, they have no plans to extend the city park end of it to anywhere useful. The concrete ends about ten feet or less past the bridge on the park side, and the vegetation in the foreground of that shot is in a ~4' deep drainage ditch that effectively separates it from the rest of the park.

I am going to try to catch up with one of those council members and sit him down with the MUTCD section on MUP signage, as all the signs are 7-8' above the ground, and one stop sign is incredibly badly placed. (Easy to interpret as a street stop even though it's trail-size, and probably should just be a yield, anyway.)