In this story from July 25, 2008 airing on KETV, Omaha residents near Karen Park (near 62nd St. and H St.) oppose the city's plan to connect the Keystone Trail to the Field Club Trail with a wide, multi-use concrete path running along Buckingham Avenue.
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The plan for the first of two phases is to connect with the Keystone Trail on the east side of the Papillion Creek, go north to Buckingham Avenue, then east to 60th Avenue, then south to H Street. The path then runs north along the west side of 60th Street, then does a switchback to join the old Chicago and Northwestern rail bridge to cross 60th. The trail will then follow the old rail line, cross 50th Street using a pedestrian activated stoplight, and then continue to 45th Street near Dayton Street.
Construction for the first phase may begin Summer 2009. The second phase will connect to the existing Field Club Trail near 35th Street and Vinton Street and will begin shortly after the first phase is complete.
Here's a copy of the map shown in the story.
As a homeowner myself, I can understand the hesitation with respect to an enlarged sidewalk and an increase of foot and cycling traffic running along my street, however, I think the fear is really fear of the unknown and the fear of change. One homeowner mentioned that she's seen bottles, trash, and fights by the trail at Karen Park. I've ridden through Karen Park many times, and I certain that this is not the doing of cyclists. Maybe she means some other kinds of "bikers" loitering in the park or the Karen Park Elementary School throwing impromptu parties. In all my years of riding the Keystone, I've never seen cyclists tossing bottles and trash on the path.
In the end, this can only be a positive, progressive thing for Omaha. As a bike commuter, I can tell you that bike routes running east and west are extremely rare. The Keystone East Connector Trail will allow commuters to get from origins out west to in-town destinations like downtown and Midtown Crossing, making Omaha more of a bikeable community supporting sustainable transportation.
3 comments:
Karen Park residents need to do their homework. That tact has already been tried and failed.
A few years back there was a well-organized protest in Dundee to prevent the creation of a bike lane on Happy Hollow Blvd that connects to a spur of the Keystone via Memorial and Elmwood Parks. Not only did the protesters drag the media out, but they also had professional signs made about preserving the beauty of historic Dundee by keeping the rabble-rousing, trash & bottle throwing public out of their back yard. In the end, they lost. While I don't think it was fully completed, a ribbon about a mile long with full regalia marking its presence was built in front of the very homes that protested it.
It barely gets used.
Hi Brady:
I wouldn't be surprised if the Happy Hollow Trail gets more use in the future. When looking at the propose Omaha Bikeway plan (http://tinyurl.com/bikemap), it looks like Happy Hollow will get very close to planned bike lanes/bicycle boulevards in the North. They might even connect, but as I don't know the Happy Hollow trail very well, I can't say for sure.
Once these connections are done, it may open the way for more commuting and transportation rides along the bikeways.
By the way, there is a YouTube video in this entry, but I suspect your employer's web proxy blocks it, so instead, you just get a big white space with nothing in it.
In mtb'ing advocacy, bringing "good" traffic to a trail has driven the "bad" traffic away. Getting people to commute through Karen Park would probably have the same effect.
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