November 6, 2011 • 7:47 pm 1
If you happen to be cruising along the DART trail, close to East Side, watch for the big boulder in the way. This was apparently a landscaping decoration that was somehow dragged onto the trail. I’d hate to see what the other guy looked like.
Be careful out there.
Filed under: Bike Trails and Routes, Trail and Road Hazards, DART Trail, East Side, Trail Hazard
October 8, 2011 • 8:07 am 6
The trail under Renner Road is finally complete (although not officially opened). Check out the video from the north side to the south:
Filed under: City Stuff, Bike Trails and Routes, New Trails, New Trail Construction, Renner Road, Trail Under Renner Road
October 3, 2011 • 7:16 pm 3
It’s been a couple of weeks since our last progress report. The city is finally getting close to completing the trail under Renner Road. All of the forms are up and they’ve started pouring the concrete on the north side. What’s interesting about this part of the process, compared to when they worked on the trail under Central, is that the side rail is already up. My guess is that it’s because of safety issues – since there’s a 12 foot drop on the other side.
Here are some pics:
Forms Leading From The Existing Spring Creek Trail - South Side Of Renner
Forms Continue Under Renner Road - Facing North
View Of Where Forms Meet Concrete Under Renner Road - Facing South
North Side Of Renner Road Facing South. Note Side Rail.
View Of The Trail Connection, North Side Of Renner - Facing North
View From Above - On Renner Road (east bound traffic)
Filed under: City Stuff, Bike Trails and Routes, Trail Construction, Renner Road, Spring Creek Trail, Trail Under Renner Road
September 23, 2011 • 8:52 pm 2
Last week, the Richardson City Council didn’t really dicuss any particular item on the list of Near Term Action Items. However, it looks like this Monday, the Council will most likeley vote to adopt the list of action items they’ve been working to identify and rank.
Cycling is specifically mentioned under item L., Transportation and Mobility, as “Evaluate the expansion of the City’s bike lane system and enhancing pavement markings and signage”.
Some of the other items on the list are:
Community Vitality and Neighborhood Integrity
Environmental Management
Health Care Facilities and Community Wellness
To me, a vibrant and diverse cycling culture contributes to all three of the items above, in additon to Transportation and Mobility. Hopefully, the City Council and City staff agree. Every time that cyclists make a trip by bike instead of using a car, they cut down on emissions, get a healthy dose of excercise and fresh air, and provide another pair of eyes on the street in our neighborhoods. A win for cycling thus often provides a parallel win in another category.
We’ll continue to monitor the progress of the Near Term Action Items and provide updates as information becomes available.
Filed under: Advocacy, City Stuff, Bike Trails and Routes
September 18, 2011 • 8:18 pm 2
It’s been a few weeks since we reported on the Spring Creek Trail construction under Renner Road. When we checked on Labor Day, they had started to back-fill the area inside of the retaining wall. But, last week, it actually looked like some of that was dug back up.
This week, however, the underpass looks much more complete. Most of the inside area has been filled and now it looks like it’s well on it’s way to having the actual trail forms built.
Here are some pics:
Facing North From The South Side Of Renner
Here You Can See How Much They Filled In
Under Renner Facing North
Facing South (under Renner)
To see more posts about this and other Spring Creek Trail upgrades, click over to the Maps section of this site.
Filed under: City Stuff, Bike Trails and Routes, Renner Road, Spring Creek Trail, Trail Under Renner Road
September 11, 2011 • 3:21 pm 12
Blue Is The Preston Ridge Trail. Green Is The Cottonwood Trail.
If you’ve ever tried to ride the Preston Ridge Trail from Richardson, Plano or even north Dallas into downtown Dallas, you might of found it a bit difficult. Sure it’s a good trail that leads towards downtown, but it falls short on Coit Road, between Belt Line Road and Spring Valley Road. The closest connections into town would be either the White Rock Creek Trail which begins at LBJ Freeway, just east of Hillcrest Road – or the Cottonwood Trail, which doesn’t begin until you go east on Spring Valley and south on Maham Road. Both routes would require you to leave the multi-purpose Preston Ridge Trail and navigate either streets or sidewalks to reconnect with the other trails. Easy for some, but not for less experienced riders.
It looks like that’s about to change. We got a tip from a BFR friend that there is a new multi-purpose trail (which is part of the Cottonwood Trail) being constructed that will run along the east side of Coit Road, then along the north side of Spring Valley Road which will make the connection between the Preston Ridge Trail and the Cottonwood Trail. Great news for folks who don’t want to ride on the busy streets of Coit Road or Spring Valley Road.
It’s not a perfect solution. What qualifies this as a multi-purpose trail instead of a sidewalk? In this case, not much. Unlike other multi-purpose trails that run along the utility right-of-ways (like the Preston Ridge Trail), there isn’t much real estate to work with. Some would even think that this is no more than just a really wide sidewalk. They did the best they could with the limitations at hand. For that, we’re grateful.
We feel the best way to help differentiate this as a multi-purpose trail is to put a divider stripe down the center. This will indicate that it’s used for more than just a sidewalk. Also, put up signage to let people know what the intent for this trail is.
Click here or on the map above to get a closer look at the new connection. Below are some pics of how it looks so far.
Multi-Purpose Trail Heading North On Coit Road
Narrow Section At The Corner Of Spring Valley and Coit
Multi-Purpose Trail Heading West On Spring Valley Road
Narrow Section Heading West On Spring Valley Road
Spring Valley Crossing At Maham Road (facing south)
Multi-Purpose Trail Heading South On Maham Road
Construction Gap Where It Connects With The Existing Cottonwood Trail
Filed under: City Stuff, Bike Trails and Routes, Dallas, Richardson, Cottonwood Trail, Preston Ridge Trail, Trail Connection, Multi Purpose Trail, Preston Ridge Trail Dallas
September 10, 2011 • 4:36 pm 3
Staging Area At Harry Moss Park
I decided to join The Friends Of The White Rock Creek Trail and help them with their trail clean up efforts this morning. Unfortunately, I got a late start and didn’t make it to the kick-off at 8:00 am. On the way there I did see a few people already on the trail, picking up trash. The staging area at Harry Moss Park was still up and the nice guys from the City of Dallas set me up with a few trash bags.
My Selected Section
I rolled back towards Richardson and found a spot that wasn’t getting worked on. The trail didn’t seem so bad, until I started to pick up the trash. By the time I was finished with my section of the trail, I had completely filled one of the trash bags.
I rolled up further and met a few folks working, including FWRCT President Marc Mumby (see pic below). They had several bags complete and hard at work at that particular part of the trail. I opted to ride further up the trail and find a section that wasn’t worked on yet. I was able to find a small section near Central Expressway that needed some help.
FWRCT President Marc Mumby
After that, I made my way back to the staging area, grabbing a few bits and pieces that may have been missed along the way.
It was nice to do something good and help out the city’s parks. There were quite a few folks who expressed their appreciation for our work.
Filed under: BFR Misc, Bike Trails and Routes, The Friends of the White Rock Creek Trail, Trail Clean Up
September 7, 2011 • 4:49 pm 1
BFR friend Sean posted this on our Facebook group page. From the Friends of the White Rock Creek Trail website:
The Friends of the White Rock Creek Trail is organizing a trail clean up day to coincide with the Dallas Park and Recreation Department’s “It’s My Park Day”. Please contact your friends and neighbors, homeowner’s associations, crime watch groups, running friends, bike clubs, etc, and ask them to come volunteer for 2 hours to help clean up one of Dallas’ premiere hike and bike trails.
White Rock Creek Trail Clean Up Day
8-10 AM
Saturday, Sept. 10, 2011
Harry Moss Park Parking Lot
SE Corner of Greenville and Royal Ln.
DallasThe Park and Recreation Dept. will have personnel there to hand out trash bag and trash sticks. All you need to bring is a pair of gloves and sun screen. FWRCT will provide drinks.
If you register here, it will help us estimate how many people we’ll have.
Being so close to Richardson, I’m sure a lot of us use this trail. It would be nice to give back and help keep our local trail system looking nice.
Filed under: Bike Trails and Routes, The Friends of the White Rock Creek Trail, Trail Clean Up
September 2, 2011 • 5:47 am 1
BFR friend, Jenny posted some interesting, north Dallas trail news in the Suburban Assault Facebook group:
The Northaven Trail Phase 1 will soon be under construction just south of us, in Dallas. Phase 1 will go from the White Rock Creek trail to the Dallas North Tollway. A couple of the amenities as designed are a water bottle filling station and a bike repair station. According to their site, they’ve already had their ground breaking ceremony back in July.
From their site: The Northaven Trail (NHT) is a future commuter and recreational bike and hike trail to be built by the Dallas Parks and Recreation Department. The Trail will run through the Oncor power line easement that is between Northaven Road and Royal Lane. The trail’s master plan runs from Central Expressway to Denton Drive with plans to connect to the White Rock Creek Trail on the east and Irving’s Campion Trail on the west. There will also be connections to DART’s Forest Lane Station and Walnut Hill / Denton Station.
This is fantastic news for Richardson cyclists. Although not a Richardson trail, it’ll provide a nice east to west connection, opening up alternate routes into north Dallas.
Click here to see their site. Click here to see their trail plans.
Filed under: Bike Trails and Routes, Dallas Trail Network, Northaven Trail, Friends Of Northaven Trail, Texas Trail Construction
August 27, 2011 • 9:50 am 3
Looks like it’s all coming together. I would have taken more pics, but the crew was working on it – even on a Saturday.
UPDATE: Went back on Sunday and took a few more pics. Enjoy:
Filed under: City Stuff, Bike Trails and Routes, Renner Road, Spring Creek Trail, Trail Under Renner Road
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