Trail Construction | Bike Friendly Richardson

March 2, 2013 • 6:42 am 3

Richardson City Council Awards Bid for Central Trail Construction

From the City of Richardson weekly newsletter:

The City Council on Monday awarded a bid of $3.4 million to Ed Bell Construction Company to extend the Central Trail 1.9 miles from the Arapaho Road DART Station to the southern city limit. Construction of the 10-foot wide concrete multiuse trail is expected to begin in April and last for about one year.

The $4 million project is funded through Dallas County and the City of Richardson’s 2010 Bond Program. The lowest bid to construct the trail came in about $400,000 over budget, so the City removed some amenities such as irrigation systems, landscaping, and benches to be constructed in a possible second phase at a future date. The City also hopes to use $600,000 in Regional Tollway Revenue funds awarded for the Central Trail to help enhance the project.

The Central Trail currently runs from the Spring Creek Trail in north Richardson and ends at the Arapaho Road DART Station. The extension will run alongside the DART rail line and is planned to eventually connect with the Richardson city limit to the south and a future connection to the Dallas’ White Rock Creek Trail.

Watch the City Council presentation at http://bit.ly/V6oiYQ.

We are extremely excited that this is happening and we’d still like to see the small gap in the plan addressed.

Filed under: Bike Change, Bike Trails and Routes, City Stuff, Central Trail, Central Trail Construction, Central Trail South, City Of Richardson, Dallas County, DART, New Trail, Trail, Trail Construction

October 3, 2011 • 7:16 pm 3

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:

Last Of The Trail Connection - South Side Of Renner

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: Bike Trails and Routes, City Stuff, Renner Road, Spring Creek Trail, Trail Construction, Trail Under Renner Road

August 14, 2011 • 8:53 am 3

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.

Filed under: Bike Trails and Routes, City Stuff, Spring Creek Trail, Trail Construction, Trail Under Renner Road

June 11, 2011 • 8:05 am 2

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

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

Filed under: Bike Trails and Routes, City Stuff, Richardson, Spring Creek Trail, Texas, Trail Construction, Trail Under Central, Trail Under Renner Road

May 9, 2011 • 4:09 pm 4

Updates To The Central Expressway and Renner Road Underpasses

A bunch has happened since our last report on the almost completion of the first Central Expressway underpass , just south of Renner Road.

North of Renner Road, Underpass of Central Expressway - East Side

It now appears that the second Central underpass, just north of Renner Road, has been poured as well. That portion of the Richardson trail – from Alma Road (at the PGB Tollway), running under Central Expressway, then around to Renner Road – is complete.

North of Renner Road, Underpass of Central Expressway - West Side

The underpass at Renner Road – connecting this new trail to the existing Spring Creek Trail – is all that is left. As of a few weeks ago, it still looked like there was plenty of work that needed to be done. This weekend, we discovered that quite a bit of progress has happened and that underpass is well on it’s way towards completion.

Check out the pics:

Trail Under Renner Road - Far From Finished

Renner Road Underpass - Not Much Progress A Few Weeks Ago

Renner Road Underpass - Much More Progress This Past Weekend

Renner Road Underpass - Much More Progress This Past Weekend

Here’s a map for this section of trail:

Filed under: Bike Trails and Routes, City Stuff, New Trails, Richardson Trails, Trail Construction, Trail Under Central Expressway, Trail Under Renner Road

April 2, 2011 • 6:23 pm 11

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

East Side Trail - North of Renner Road, East of Central

Trail North Of Renner Road To Central Expressway

Trail Under Central (North Of Renner Road)

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

Filed under: Bike Trails and Routes, City Stuff, PGB Tollway Trail, Renner Road, Richardson, Spring Creek Trail, Trail Construction

March 6, 2011 • 10:14 am 7

Trail Under Central Progress – West Side Ramp

View of the underpass from the west side

It’s been a few weeks since we’ve checked the progress on the trail passages under Central Expressway. The north underpass looks about the same, but I believe there has been progress on the actual west side trail heading to Alama (along the PGB Tollway). We’ll investigate that in a couple of weeks.

The south of Renner Road underpass has made some great progress. All of the heavy construction equipment is gone indicating that most of the structural work is complete. All that remains is actually building the path. The ramp on the west side of Central Expressway (next to the QMACS building) is mostly complete as well. Check out some pics that we took:

Ramp To The Under Central Trail - West Side

Start of the west side ramp

West side ramp leading to the underpass trail

View of the west side ramp - from the underpass

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

Filed under: Bike Change, Bike Trails and Routes, City Stuff, Central Trail, New Trails, Spring Creek Trail, Trail Construction

September 26, 2010 • 1:06 pm 10

More Trail Progress – Towards The Central Underpass

There is a bit more progress on the Spring Creek Trail extension that leads to one of the Central Expressway underpasses. In case you aren’t sure where this is, it branches off from the Spring Creek Trail rest area, at the southeast corner of Central and Renner Road.

Last Week: The forms were set up ready for cement.

This Week: This part of the trail is complete.

Here’s a shot from further down the trail, closer to the underpass:

More to come.

Follow our coverage of this trail construction:
August 28, 2010
August 21, 2010
July 25, 2010
June 13, 2010
May 8, 2010
April 3, 2010
March 11, 2010

Filed under: Bike Trails and Routes, City Stuff, Richardson Trails, Spring Creek Trail, Trail Construction

August 28, 2010 • 9:09 pm 11

New Guard Rail

I’ve made it my mission to do weekly checkups on the new trail construction by Spring Creek Park (at Central and Renner Road). Every week, there’s a new surprise addition that gets us closer to having a bike friendly passage under Central Expressway, safely joining east and west Richardson.

This week, they added guard rails to the newly poured path we reported on last week.

Filed under: Bike Trails and Routes, City Stuff, Trail Construction

August 21, 2010 • 10:09 am 15

More Trail Progress

It’s amazing what could happen in a week. They had the forms set up last weekend for the addition to the trail at Renner Road and Central. This week we have about 70-80 yards of hike and bike trail, leading us closer to the pass under Central. Check back and we’ll keep you posted with more progress as it happens.

Last Weekend

Today

More to come...

On a side note, I met a really nice lady on the bike trails today. Jill was getting back on the bike for the first time in years. I told her about BFR and she seemed excited about the idea of a group that is more about riding for fun or utility over sport. Seems, like with most of us, the intimidation of the sport cycling culture has kept her off the bike. We hope to see more riders, like Jill, rediscover the enjoyment of riding their bikes – at their own pace.

Follow our coverage of this trail construction:
July 25, 2010
June 13, 2010
May 8, 2010
April 3, 2010
March 11, 2010

Filed under: Bike Trails and Routes, City Stuff, Bike Trails, Renner Road, Richardson, Spring Creek Park, Texas, Trail Construction