Friday, July 24, 2009
Hairy wild petunia one of hundreds of native species that will be visible from Pinnacle Prairie Trail, which must be completed within three weeks
Please click on July 24, 2009, images to ENLARGE view of machines working on base of new Pinnacle Prairie nature trail for bicyclists and pedestrians to enjoy. The trail is being constructed only about 200 feet west of World Peace Wetland Prairie.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
5 comments:
Where did they get all that red dirt? Is it necessary for a nature trail?
It is being built to official city trail standards, which means 12 feet wide with a red-dirt base and then limestone gravel and then black top. The trail is designed to meander, which will bring it closer to the edge of the prairie land that hasn't been much disturbed in decades. However, the meandering design makes it a little bit longer and more red dirt is being spilled than necessary. I was hoping this trail would be a model for later trail building in our city. But it is being done by contractors in a hurry. And the trail administrator has duties other than supervising every bit of work there. So it won't be as nice and harmless to the prairie as hoped, but it will allow almost everyone to visit and see and photograph and watch butterflies and birds and deer and other wildlife OR just walk or roll a wheelchair or bicycle through the area. Clearly, even a paved trail will disrupt the natural processes much there there than would a street!
The greatest disappoint for people who live on 12th Street is that the cul-de-sac is not being reconstructed there.
Have you talked to city officials about it? Can't they ask the contractors to make that small change in the approved plan?
That old turn-around spot would help people who drive there to enjoy the trail as much as it would the neighbors or emergency vehicles or the postman!
What would it take? Possibly a half-day of dirt work and a few loads of gravel on top? It worked well for decades without paving.
I wrote a really bad sentence and this is it:
Clearly, even a paved trail will disrupt the natural processes much there there than would a street!
What I thought I wrote:
Clearly, even a paved trail will disrupt the natural processes much less there than would a street!
Even that isn't what I really thought, which was, how could the trail administrator allow this work to be done in such a delicate and precious environment without more assurances that the red dirt could NOT and would NOT be spilled on even a square foot outside the actual trail?
If the city can't provide onsite inspectors 12-7 or 14-7, which has been the number of hours per seven days worked frequently by the Hill Place crew, then the project should not be approved to start with.
You didn't mention the turn-a-round or cul-de-sac at the end of 12th. I live in one of the duplexes and people who have lived here a lot longer than I have are really angry that the turnaround was torn out. Can't you do anything to get that put back as it was? It wouldn't interfere with the trail at all.
I tried calling some city people but got a runaround instead of a turnaround for my neighbors across the street.
Post a Comment