New Pics Of The Central Trail Construction – Buckingham To Spring Valley
The Central Trail, southern extension – from Buckingham to Arapaho – is coming along nicely. The Central Trail goes north and south along the DART rail line which runs through Richardson. It will eventually connect Richardson, Plano and other suburban communities to the various parts of Dallas.
We’ve already posted pics of the ‘northern’ end of this extension that runs from Arapaho to Belt Line. Now, we’re seeing some great progress on the southern end, between Buckingham and Spring Valley. The trail isn’t officially open, so don’t head that way yet.
We’re not there yet. Even when complete, there is still a huge gap between Buckingham and the White Rock Creek Trail. Although more trail is needed to complete the connection, this Central Trail extension takes bicycle trail commuters one step closer. This is something DFW cyclists can get excited about. Here are some pics and observations.
This is the southern most end at Buckingham (facing north):
Here is the Spring Valley End (facing south):
Here is the Spring Valley End (image, not bike, facing north):
Here is the path along Spring Valley, heading to the signal crossing at Business Parkway. When we saw the plans for this, it originally seemed to be pretty narrow. It actually appears to be wider than a standard sidewalk. Without proper marking it may be confused as one.
Here is the trail connection on the north side of Spring Valley. As you can see, this is pretty wide and feels more like a multipurpose trail. This leads right into DART’s Spring Valley Station.
Bicycling Goals For Richardson – 2014
What do you think the 2014 Bike Goals for the City of Richardson should be? Please post your ideas that would help improve biking in our city – and would cost little to nothing out of their budget. We’ll see if we can politely bring them to their attention.
I’ll start:
– Safe Passing Ordinance. They passed it in Plano and a few other north Texas towns, so it makes sense for Richardson.
– Keep Public Trails Open Longer. Figure out a way to open the Owen’s Trail for pedestrians and cyclists through the Sherrill Park Golf Course for much longer hours – 24 if possible
– Safer Intersections Along Bike Routes. An example would be to turn the intersection at Melrose and Custer into a 4-way stop.
– Bike Parking Ordinance. Require new construction to include bike parking. OR, at least, offer good incentives for developers to add them to their plans.
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Richardson City Council Approves Resolution for Work on New Trails
State Farm Campus – Plano Road, just south of the PGB Tollway
From last week’s city newsletter:
The City Council on Monday approved a resolution that advances the development of a trail system near the future State Farm campus and surrounding area. The resolution authorizes BCS West Land Investments to design and construct the trail along Routh Creek Parkway from Renner Road to the nearby DART rail station.
The City has obtained a Regional Toll Revenue grant to fund approximately 80 percent of the trail. Once complete, the trail will tie in to the City’s Central Trail, which will eventually run from north to south across the entire City.
Trail Along Routh Creek Parkway, heading north to Renner Road
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The City of Richardson Talks About Their Trail Expansion
The City of Richardson is starting to realize that they need to really promote their bicycling friendliness. Over the past few years, they’ve made great efforts to improve awareness, expand the trail network and add traffic-calming bike lanes. However, aside from us at BFR and our cycling neighbors, folks in Texas rarely get to hear about it.
It seems like that is starting to change. Here is a video that they produced to promote the expansion of the Central Trail, along the DART rail line.
They are also talking about the expansion on the front page of the city’s monthly newsletter, Richardson Today. Here is a digital copy of that issue, featuring BFR friend and local cyclist, Marshall Hallberg.
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Updated Pics Of The Central Trail (South) Construction
Here are some updated pics of the new, southern link to the Central Trail.
Construction is still looking a bit light, south of Belt Line. We’ll keep you posted on any new updates.
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Central Trail Construction (South) Coming Along Nicely
We’ve been keeping an eye on the construction of the southern extension of the Central Trail.
Central Trail is the trail that runs parallel to Central Expressway, along the DART Rail Red Line tracks. Currently, it starts at Renner Road at Routh Creek Parkway (where it connects to the Spring Creek Trail), and runs south to DART’s Arapaho Center Station – well, sort of. In our opinion, it really stops at about Alma Road, and becomes a sidewalk, along Greenville, until it reaches Arapaho Center Station. Read more about that here.
This new addition is designed to extend Central Trail south, from Arapaho Road to Buckingham Road – at the city limit. Future extensions will eventually connect it to the White Rock Creek Trail. We were also given some information that lead us to believe that the trail extension will connect to the Arapaho Center Station train platform, instead of the bus transfer station on the east side of Greenville Road. That would be fantastic if it actually happens.
Once this extension is complete, people will be able to walk or ride their bikes to three of the four DART train stations in Richardson (Spring Valley, Arapaho Center and Galatyn Park). The Bush Turnpike Station will have to wait for a future extension.
Here are some pics and descriptions of the current progress:
This shot was taken at the southwest corner of Arapaho Road And Greenville Avenue. You can see the DART tracks to the right and Greenville Avenue to the left.
This shot was taken a bit further south along Greenville Avenue. As you can see, they’re making every effort to save the trees.
This shot was taken even further south along Greenville Avenue. Here you can see how the trail will coexist with the DART Red Line.
This pic was taken just south of the Jackson Street crossing.
As you can see, the trail isn’t ready to ride.
As the trail approaches Belt Line Road, it actually crosses under the DART Rail track overpass.
This is where the trail will cross Belt Line Road. The city has decided that the light at Interurban will be the best place to cross.
Once across Belt Line Road, the trail is lost at this parking lot entrance. It eventually begins again at the rail underpass.
The trail construction seems to end at Polk Street.
I rode a bit further south to find this bridge being built at Phillips Street. Not seeing a current plan, I can only guess that this will have a roll in the extension of Central Trail.
I didn’t get a chance to ride down to Spring Valley Station. I’ll try to get down there next weekend to check on any progress down there.
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Richardson Cyclists – 2013 Voter’s Guide
There is a city election coming up. Richardson residents must choose the office holders for City Council and, for the first time in many years, Mayor. The election will be held on May, 11 2013, but early voting will start as soon as April 29.
Most of the positions are unopposed, but the Mayoral position is up to the voters.
As an advocacy group, Bike Friendly Richardson does not have any official endorsement for any of the candidates. However, as cyclists, we were concerned about each candidate’s position on cycling issues. We sent each a questionnaire covering several bicycling topics, and many of them sent in their responses. We’ve posted those responses here so that Richardson cyclists can have a perspective of who they are voting for.
Don’t forget to vote.
CANDIDATES
Mayor
Laura Maczka
Amir Omar
City Council
Place 1: Bob Townsend
Place 2: Mark Solomon
Place 3: Scott Dunn
Place 4: Kendal Hartley
Place 5: Paul Voelker
Place 6: Steve Mitchell
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Mayor & Council Survey – Mark Solomon
Mark Solomon is running unopposed for re-election to City Council Place 2. Thank you Mr. Solomon for taking the time to give your perspective on cycling issues in Richardson.
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Mayor & Council Survey – Kendal Hartley
Kendal Hartley is currently the Place 5 councilman and is running unopposed for the Place 4 seat (Laura Maczka’s seat). Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us, Mr. Hartley.
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Mayor & Council Survey – Scott Dunn
Scott Dunn is running unopposed for re-election to City Council Place 3. He is also a member of the Bike Friendly Richardson Facebook group and comments there from time to time. Mr. Dunn pointed out that although we did not ask about an east-west bicycle & pedestrian connection across 75 in the southern part of Richardson, he will continue to look for possible solutions.
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Bike Friendly Richardson 
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