Our First Trail Cleanup Day Was A Success
My Trail Cleanup Rig
Richardson continues to impress us with their network of great bike and pedestrian access routes throughout the city. As part of that, we have some really nice multi-purpose trails. However, over time and through excessive usage, they have’ve gotten covered in litter, animal waste and broken glass. Instead of complaining about the mess, Bike Friendly Richardson decided to take the maintenance and care of our trail network into our own hands.
My Bike with Howard and His Goat, Billy
We scheduled our first, hopefully of many, Trail Clean Up Days. Given such short notice, and everybody’s busy schedules, our first turnout wasn’t that great. We did get a few volunteers from all around the city, as well as somebody from our neighboring city, Plano. The plan was to try and fill as many trash bags (provided by the city) as possible in two hours.
Overall, we were pretty successful in filling 8-10 bags—not bad for a small group of people. Think about what we could have accomplished with more volunteers. There was still a lot more trash on the trail that we couldn’t get to. Perhaps we’ll get it all the next time.
Our goal is to do this more often than not—hopefully in other parts of the city as well. We only hope is that we’ve inspired other people to get out there and care for the public areas near them. This is our city, and we need to take responsibility for it.
Getting The Trash Beyond The Trail
Spring Creek Trail is Re-Opened
According to this week’s newsletter from the city:
Repair work on Spring Creek Trail has been completed by the contractor ahead of schedule, and other than some cleanup work still taking place over the next several days, the trail is open for all users once again.
The trail was closed in three phases beginning Jan. 3, and the rehabilitation work along the 1.1 mile section had been expected to last until Feb. 7. The City contractor removed and replaced concrete trail sections that had been damaged by tree roots and shifting soil.
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Spring Creek Trail Looks Worse Than I Thought
Last week the City of Richardson announced that they would be closing off portions of the Spring Creek Trail for repairs. Since I typically ride the west section, from the Routh Creek Parkway ramp to the Central Expressway underpasses, I didn’t know the extent of the wear and tear on the trail.
I took a spin thought the entire length this morning and discovered that it was much worse than I thought. Here are some pics of just a few areas marked for repair:
Seeing the extent of this wear makes me glad the city is working – proactively – to keep it maintained and safe for those using it. Yet, another great reason to live in Richardson.
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Spring Creek Trail Extension Officially Open
© City Of Richardson - (Council Members Amir Omar and Scott Dunn, Collin County Commissioner Cheryl Williams, Mayor Bob Townsend, Congressman Sam Johnson, Council Member Kendal Hartley, Mayor Pro Tem Laura Maczka and Council Member Mark Solomon)
If you’ve been following us for the past couple of years, we kept you updated on the progress of extensions of the Spring Creek Trail. These new extensions provide safe passages under Central Expressway and Renner Road.
This past Thursday was the ribbon cutting that officially opened the trail extension.
From the city newsletter:
City Council Members, staff and local officials celebrated the opening of the Spring Creek Trail extension at a ribbon cutting ceremony held Thursday.
The new extension is a 1.3 mile, 12-foot wide concrete trail that extends the popular Spring Creek Trail north under Renner and US 75 and ends at Alma Road and the George Bush Turnpike. The trail also travels south following Prairie Creek under US 75 and then turns north to connect with the Renner Trail (see map below).
The wide, concrete trail accommodates multiple uses including walking, jogging, biking, strolling and in-line skating. Federal, state, county and local dollars helped to pay for the design and construction of the trail that allows users of the trail system a safe passage under busy roadways.
Quite frankly, after such a long time coming, we’re surprised that it was such an understated event. You’d think the city would be proud of it’s accomplishments and make a bigger P.R. event out of it. Regardless, it’s here and it’s open. Enjoy.
To see all the coverage of this trail extension development, click on the links below:
Spring Creek Trail – Including Under Central and Under Renner Road Connections:
Trail Construction – 03/11/2010
Under Construction-Two Bike Trails Under Central Expressway– 04/03/2010
More Trail Construction Pics – 05/08/2010
Trail Construction Moving Forward Nicely – 06/13/2010
Trail Construction Update Pics – 07/25/2010
More Trail Progress – 08/21/2010
New Guard Rail – 08/28/2010
More Trail Progress – Towards The Central Underpass – 09/26/2010
Central Underpass – Progress On The West Side – 11/28/2010
More Trail Progress – Retaining Walls Under US75 – 12/05/2010
Trail Under Central Progress – More Gabion Walls – 02/13/2011
Trail Under Central Progress – West Side Ramp – 03/06/2011
Spring Creek Trail: North Of Renner Road – A Progress Report – 04/02/2011
Trail Under Central – Serious Progress – 04/17/2011
Took A Ride Under Central Expressway Today – 04/23/2011
Updates To The Central Expressway and Renner Road Underpasses – 05/09/2011
Spring Creek Trail – Central and Renner Road Underpass Updates – 06/11/2011
Trail Under Renner Road – Progress – 07/28/14
More Renner Road Underpass Progress – 08/14/2011
Renner Road Underpass – Retaining Wall Progress – 08/27/2011
Major Progress With The Trail Under Renner Road – 09/18/2011
Trail Under Renner Progress – Forms Are Up, Cement Is Being Poured – 10/03/2011
Trail Under Renner Road Is Complete – 10/08/2011
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Trail Under Renner Progress – Forms Are Up, Cement Is Being Poured
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)
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Major Progress With The Trail Under Renner Road
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.
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More Renner Road Underpass Progress
It’s been a couple of weeks since we’ve checked on the progress of the Renner Road trail underpass. We were quite surprised to see so much progress in such a short amount of time. Now that the retaining wall is going up, we’re starting to get a better idea of how this trail is going to look.
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Spring Creek Trail – Central and Renner Road Underpass Updates
It’s been a few weeks since we’ve been on the Spring Creek Trail, so we thought we would share some updates.
Central Underpass (south of Renner Road)
Let’s start with the – almost complete – Central Expressway (US75) underpass, the one located just south of Renner Road. The last time we checked, all of the cement was poured except the small bit that connected it to the existing trail on the west side. We got an email on May 28th from BFR friend, Dennis, informing us that it was finally poured. Here’s a shot of that:
West Side Connection To Existing Trail.
Some of the other improvements to this portion of the trail are new guard rails and painted retaining walls. These are the types of details that will make our trail system a nice place to travel – safe and visually pleasing. We’re glad the city has taken the steps to make these routes more than just utility.
Painted Retaining Walls and New Guard Rails
New Guard Rails
Renner Road Underpass
The third and last holdout to the completion of the Spring Creek Trail underpass project is the section under Renner Road. This passage will be necessary to access the other Central Underpass, just north of Renner Road. Although behind schedule, quite a bit of progress has been made in the past couple of months. Now it looks like they’ve got a good start on a massive retaining wall.
Retaining Wall Construction Under Renner Road
Retaining Wall Construction Under Renner Road
Follow our coverage of the Spring Creek Trail extension
– Including Under Central Connections:
Trail Construction – 03/11/2010
Under Construction-Two Bike Trails Under Central Expressway – 04/03/2010
More Trail Construction Pics – 05/08/2010
Trail Construction Moving Forward Nicely – 06/13/2010
Trail Construction Update Pics – 07/25/2010
More Trail Progress – 08/21/2010
New Guard Rail – 08/28/2010
More Trail Progress – Towards The Central Underpass – 09/26/2010
Central Underpass – Progress On The West Side – 11/28/2010
More Trail Progress – Retaining Walls Under US75 – 12/05/2010
Trail Under Central Progress – More Gabion Walls – 02/13/2011
Trail Under Central Progress – West Side Ramp – 03/06/2011
Spring Creek Trail: North Of Renner Road – A Progress Report – 04/02/2011
Trail Under Central – Serious Progress – 04/17/2011
Took A Ride Under Central Expressway Today – 04/23/2011
Updates To The Central Expressway and Renner Road Underpasses – 05/09/2011
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Trail Under Central – Serious Progress
Looks like the forms are up on the southern underpass (just south of Renner Road). It usually doesn’t take them long to pour the slab once it’s at this point. That doesn’t mean the trail will be open, yet. There is a bunch of finishing work that needs to be done before it will be open for riders. We’ll keep you posted.
I didn’t get a chance to check the northern underpass (just north of Renner Road) – but until the Renner Road underpass is complete, that section is far from useful.
Follow our coverage of this trail construction:
November 28, 2010
September 26, 2010
August 28, 2010
August 21, 2010
July 25, 2010
June 13, 2010
May 8, 2010
April 3, 2010
March 11, 2010
December 5, 2010
February 13, 2011
March 6, 2011
April 2, 2011
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Spring Creek Trail: North Of Renner Road – A Progress Report
Do you remember when Bob reported about this trail over a year ago? Back then it was just an open field and a plan to extend the Spring Creek Trail from the Renner Road at Central Expressway rest stop to Alma Road at the PGB Tollway. We’re happy to report that, over a year later, the trail is mostly – and we stress mostly – complete. Unfortunately, two key portions that will connect it to the Spring Creek Trail are far from complete. Both the passages under Renner Road and Central Expressway still have a long way to go.
Like with the central underpass, just south of Renner, contractors didn’t quite make the goal of February 2011 completion. Considering how bad some of last winter’s snow storms were, the setbacks are understandable.
That didn’t stop us from taking a spin to investigate the progress. Check out some of the shots from the upcoming trail (Click on the map above to see these pics in context).
Passage Under Renner Road - Still Flooded
Trail North Of Renner Road To Central Expressway
Passage Under Central Expressway
West Trail From Central Towards The PGB Tollway
Under The PGB Tollway - Facing West
Under The PGB Tollway - Facing East
Trail Emerging Out From Under The PGB Tollway
End Of The Trail At Alma And PGB Tollway
Some folks have questioned the purpose of this trail. Although it will provide a safe passage under Central Expressway, it really doesn’t provide much of a connection between east and west Richardson. Once it connects to Alma Road, it just stops. Well, according to the Richardson Bicycle-Pedestrian Trailways Plan, it will eventually continue along the PGB Tollway as well as the planned Cottenbelt Trail.
We’d like to see Dallas and Plano provide connections to both north and south Preston Ridge Trail. Fingers crossed.
Follow our coverage of this trail construction:
November 28, 2010
September 26, 2010
August 28, 2010
August 21, 2010
July 25, 2010
June 13, 2010
May 8, 2010
April 3, 2010
March 11, 2010
December 5, 2010
February 13, 2011
March 6, 2011
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