For the week of May 27 thru June 2, 1998  

 

Rec district plans to master bike path disarray


By ALYSON WILSON
Express Staff Writer

Weeds, trash and other refuse is creeping closer to the bike path, a recreation-friendly asphalt ribbon winding through the Wood River Valley.

But if Blaine County Recreation District has anything to do with the trail’s state of affairs, it won’t be besieged for long.

"You can see where we need to take care of it," rec district director Mary Austin Crofts said Thursday at a board of trustees monthly meeting. "This whole thing needs to be planned. Unless a project can be really well-managed, it shouldn’t happen."

Crofts was referring to a proposed master plan to govern the 200-foot-wide stretch of greenbelt, a corridor originally cut for the rail road right of way, wherein lies the bike path.

"The management of that trail system...has been spotty," Crofts said of participation and upkeep by local cities.

The man responsible for the original landscape design, Greg Sturtevant, is outlining aesthetic guidelines for the bike path and green belt.

Crofts reminded the board that returning the rubble to a natural state is no small task.

Once the thin, delicate topsoil was disturbed during construction of the former railway, the native vegetation did not spring back.

Crofts plans to meet with city and state agencies, including the Idaho Transportation Department, to gather input for the master plan.

Two weeks ago, Crofts asked Ketchum City Council for a hand in bike path right-of-way control and establishment of a true greenbelt.

She was specifically concerned about the degraded state along Bird Drive behind new residential complexes, she said.

"I wanted to know, ‘Does anyone care or should I just shut up," Crofts said.

"This is public land, and I would like to keep it public," she said.

One option would allow landowners along the path to apply for "encroachment permits" to landscape the corridor.

Hailey resident and engineer John Gaeddert has already applied for one.

"I’d like to see this in the city of Hailey’s hands...but they’re out hustling for parks and stoplights; they’re not going to come up with the money [to landscape]," he said.

Gaeddert has already placed a children’s play structure on land behind his home, he said.

Other landowners, as shown in photos by Crofts, have built fences, discarded rubbish and planted lawns.

Several obstacles exist with a mass offering of encroachments, namely the potential for a 22-mile checkerboard of green and brown areas designating who encroach and those who don’t.

A master plan could help guide the 200 to 300 landowners’ potential bike path projects, Crofts said.

"I would like to see residents manage it well," Crofts said.

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It seems in terms of donations, the rec district has too much of a good thing and a bike path master plan would help it deal with this ordeal.

"They’re wonderful intentions," Crofts said of the donations, adding, with about 25 memorial "offerings," donators do not clearly know what is needed now along the path.

"We don’t need any more benches," Crofts said. Other options include pocket parks, vegetation and drinking fountains.

Board members agreed what the path really needs is a bathroom facility.

Upkeep of memorials, which usually falls on the rec district’s shoulders, is another burden that follows accepting donations.

 

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