[CAMBC - mtb] Need McIntire Park advocacy Sept 26

[David Stackhouse]

This message comes from me personally, not speaking as president of CAMBC.

 

There is an initial meeting Sept 26 scheduled by the City to begin planning
of the East Side of McIntire park.  I will be out of town and unable to
attend.  However, I am requesting someone attend and provide some input on
behalf of hikers, mountain bikers and park users.  If you can attend, and
you want to know more of my thoughts for input on the Park master plan, you
can call or email me for greater details.  In the meantime, here is a
summary of my ideas for McIntire Park master planning, presented here hoping
some of my thoughts might be included on September 26:

 

1.       Consideration should be given to "re-locate" the new YMCA to the
unused East Side of the Park, and specifically on the portion of the park
that has frontage on Melbourne road adjacent to CHS.  Reasons:

.         The current location requires destruction of at least 2 heavily
used and popular pavilions.  This includes the pavilion where CAMBC hosted
the Fall MTB Festival last year.  These pavilions are currently in service
and in reasonably good shape.  It will be expensive to replace these
pavilions and will be costly to taxpayers.  As I understand it, there is
currently no concrete plan for replacement of the pavilions.  Thus, the
current plan to locate the YMCA removes heavily used amenities from public
use, includes no plan for replacement, and is an easily avoidable burden on
taxpayers.

.         The current location and 40 year land lease "Use Agreement" grants
the YMCA rights to "build and maintain additional trails through the Park"
for YMCA recreational programs.  It seems this might include the RTF spur
and singletrack that is in the forested section of McIntire Park.  This
presents the possibility that singletrack may be replaced with wide gravel
corridors.  If the YMCA were relocated to the East Side of the park they
could develop new trails without affecting in any way the heavily used
existing trails or removing old growth trees. 

.         The current location requires removal of approximately 50 trees
with mature canopy and additional understory trees.  These mature canopy
trees are extremely important to the feel and use of the west side of
McIntire Park.  Removal of these old growth trees will permanently diminish
the "country" feel of McIntire Park and replace it with an urban landscape.
This is deplorable.  Location of the YMCA to my suggested location will
require removal of NO mature canopy trees and will expand use of amenities
without diminishing the West Side of the Park whatsoever.  

.         The current location of the YMCA presents an obvious conflict of
parking availability with the ball fields which are heavily used from April
to November.  There are already many occasions when there are no places to
park on the West Side of the park.  The new plans for the YMCA do not
provide all "new" spots, but instead rely heavily on use of the "existing"
parking with addition of "some" new spots to satisfy codes.  The folks at
the YMCA claim their parking demand is "counter-seasonal" to the ballfield
users.  While I agree this is probably true in the Winter from November to
March, clearly the Spring and the Fall are also heavy season for Y users AND
also heavy season for the ballfields.  Folks who've visited the park during
ball games, fall tournaments, Dogwood Festival, etc know that it is often
impossible to find any parking spots without hoping curbs and  parking on
the grass and other illegal spots.  Clearly there is substantial parking
conflict if the YMCA is located on the West Side of the Park.  ALL this
parking conflict goes away if the YMCA were to be located on the East Side
of the Park. 

.         Current location and space planning of the YMCA on the West Side
of the park routes ALL PARK TRAFFIC directly across all pedestrian traffic
in the parking areas.  Think about it, in order for folks to actually use
the YMCA in this location, busses will be using the Rugby Avenue entrance to
the park in order to get inner-city users to and from the YMCA.  These
busses will need to turn around in the Park in order to exit.  The current
plan under consideration gives inadequate attention to this need for public
transit access to the YMCA and the conflict between park users and this
heavily increased traffic in and out of the park.  Alternately, relocating
the YMCA to the East Side of the Park eliminates all these traffic conflicts
and provides easier access for public transit to/from the YMCA.

.         Location of the YMCA to the East Side of the Park off Melbourne
Road creates the potential for the YMCA to become a "gateway" to that side
of the park, thus enhancing the appeal and expanding the usability of
McIntire Park.  

2.       Regardless where the YMCA is located, consideration should be given
during Master Planning to including a trail system on the East Side of the
Park for walkers, hikers, and mountain bikers.  Given the heavy use by
beginners of the recently opened Preddy Creek Trails Park, I would suggest
that a system of beginner trails on the East Side of McIntire Park would be
well received and heavily used by city residents and especially families
with children.

3.       If the Meadowcreek Parkway and Interchange are approved for
construction, the skate park and area currently used for bike polo will have
to be removed.  In this case, I suggest these amenities be re-located into
the East Side of the Park.  Consideration should be given to this need
during master planning for the East Side of the Park.

4.       AT LEAST 2 walking/biking bridges should be planned to span the
railroad, thus providing connectivity between the East and West sides of
McIntire Park.  Master Planning of the East Side of the Park should include
extension of a connected trail loop that encompasses both the East and West
sides of the Park so the Park is no longer disconnected by the railroad.
This connected trail loop will encourage and enable users to easily move
from one side of the Park to the other to encourage full use of Park
amenities.  Thus master planning for the East Side of the Park should
include master planning for the West Side of the Park as well.  To only
focus on one side of the Park is an oversight.

5.       Unobstructed access should be created for pedestrians and bikes to
gain access to McIntire Park from a connected Shenks Greenway (and/or
McIntire Road), and crossing the RT 250 bypass such that no traffic lights
or automobiles need be encountered.  In other words, we need either a tunnel
going under Rt 250 or a pedestrian/bike bridge going over Rt 250.  The
current "Interchange" plan, which forces pedestrians and bikers to wait at
no less than 4 signaled crosswalks (or bike lanes that END at the
interchange) and forces them to confront a predicted 23,000 cars per day,
are inadequate designs that prioritize automobile traffic over pedestrians
and bikes.  Any Park Master Plan that does not create unencumbered access
for pedestrians and bicycles to use the Park is inadequate.  The East Side
of the Park has gone underutilized for many years chiefly because there is
NOT A SINGLE safe means presently for a pedestrian or bicycle to enter the
Park from the Downtown corridor.  This abysmal situation must be corrected
during the master planning process.

 

I hope someone in our email group might take some of these insights to the
September 26 meeting, and I hope that this posting might at least begin some
healthy dialog concerning this very important Master Planning process.
McIntire Park is a priceless asset to our City and Community.  The East Side
of the Park is presently under-utilized and with proper planning and citizen
input, this jewel can reach its full potential, providing unprecedented
recreational activities for generations to come.

 

Thanks

Dave Stackhouse

 

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.marketplacerealtygroup.com/pipermail/mtb/attachments/20110920/ced3b170/attachment.html