ITP trails?

[mack_turtle]

I am in Houston at the moment and the locals here have built up a few trails right in the middle of suburbia. I rode 20 miles of singletrack on Cypress Creek and I am going to hit Memorial Park later this week. I used to live in San Antonio where there are half a dozen good trails within the 1604 beltway. Why are all the trails in the ATL area so far away from town? Or are they there and I just don't know about them?

There is ample space to create creekways inside 285 but no one has done it yet. I am certain this is easier said than done, but if there's any sort of initiative to get trails built so i don't have to travel 20 miles of the parking lots that Atlanta calls highways, I'm down. I would ride more but I don't have time to battle all that traffic.

[iride]

houston has an amazing network of trails in town. been jealous of those for years...

[k2biker]

houston has an amazing network of trails in town. been jealous of those for years...

Me too. Memorial Park is a gem.

ATL has opportunity we just need more people to get involved ITP. That's the biggest struggle for the ATL chapter and has been for some time. We have a chance at 10 miles of trail that'll be 2 miles west of GT, but no one seems to want to spearhead that project and I can't for the life of me figure out why not.

However, we are making progress at Sope Creek and will soon be able to legally ride ~9 miles of trail there. Since that trail is being built and the regulation is in DC going through the process, I'm starting to focus on the next 6 miles there, which will likely be (2) new sections about 3 miles each. I could use help there as well.

Other than that, there's not enough greenspace ITP to really put together a long system. There are several short sections of trail in various areas that folks link together using the pavement, but there just aren't large enough places to put a 10 mile trail system.

[iride]

houston has an amazing network of trails in town. been jealous of those for years...

ATL has opportunity we just need more people to get involved ITP. That's the biggest struggle for the ATL chapter and has been for some time. We have a chance at 10 miles of trail that'll be 2 miles west of GT, but no one seems to want to spearhead that project and I can't for the life of me figure out why not.

shoot me an e-mail about this, full details of what's needed and current status.

crbarlow2/gmail

[K2K]

houston has an amazing network of trails in town. been jealous of those for years...

ATL has opportunity we just need more people to get involved ITP. That's the biggest struggle for the ATL chapter and has been for some time. We have a chance at 10 miles of trail that'll be 2 miles west of GT, but no one seems to want to spearhead that project and I can't for the life of me figure out why not.

shoot me an e-mail about this, full details of what's needed and current status.

crbarlow2/gmail

If you need him there quicker try cdfarlow2/gmail

[chrisdusack]

Much of the desired intown terrain is privately owned. If that was not the case, there could be a network of trails that use the 'hooch, Peachtree Creek, Nancy Creek, etc, to create a trail network that would be have distance and connectivity. A more likely scenario would be to use the Beltine as an access to smaller trails around town.


Here is some interesting information.


Parks and Greenspace Acquisition
The Department of Planning works in coordination with the Department of Parks, Recreation & Cultural Affairs and the Atlanta Development Authority to identify and acquire property to expand and enhance the City’s parks system.

The City has approximately 3,200 acres of parkland. Atlanta parkland comprises a wide variety of natural resource areas and environmental functions. Eighty-five percent of City parks are located along streams in floodplain and wetland areas, in areas with steep and rocky topography, or in other environmentally sensitive areas.

Learn more about Atlanta’s efforts to protect parks and greenspace:

• Atlanta’s Project Greenspace
• Atlanta BeltLine
• Parks & Greenspace Acquisition


http://www.atlantawatershed.org/Greenway/index.htm

[chickenlegs]

Eighty-five percent of City parks are located along streams in floodplain and wetland areas, in areas with steep and rocky topography

Therein lies the obvious answer (other than the privately owned issue). You might go a couple hundred yards in the woods around here before running into a cliff or a creek that needs a bridge.

I dare say the terrain in Houston is a bit easier to work with.

[iride]

technically, i'm not certain it's IN the city limits, but apparently austin tx has some pretty decent trails, as well...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HO5FBk8qAFw

[kevrider]

back in the day, when i used to show up for atlanta chapter meetings, there was a lot of talk about a project to get trails at Beecher Hills. is that now dead on the vine? still creeping it's way thru city hall?

[mack_turtle]

I don't where everything else is that might be open, but look at Fisher Trail Park on a map. there's a creek that goes north out of there up toward Mercer University, past where I live. or veers off toward Echo Lake. potential...

I am sure there are lots of other little corridors in town like that, so how to I search for bits of land that could be used from a land ownership perspective. what's private property and what's not?

[AllenM]

I am sure there are lots of other little corridors in town like that, so how to I search for bits of land that could be used from a land ownership perspective. what's private property and what's not?

Sometimes it falls into: "ask permission or forgiveness" territory.
Some people build trail and then ask for forgiveness if the owner finds them. Creeks and highways have buffers of undeveloped land. Sometimes it is publicly owned and sometimes it is privately owned. If nobody is using it right now, they probably won't care if you ride your bike on it.

There is a park in my neighborhood with a lot of undeveloped woods that I've talked about building trails on with a few neighbors. City of Atlanta owns the land, but Dekalb county maintains the park. I doubt either one would care if there were trails in the woods. Hell, there are already trails through the woods from the homeless folks cutting through.

[u1ockjustice]

I am sure there are lots of other little corridors in town like that, so how to I search for bits of land that could be used from a land ownership perspective. what's private property and what's not?

Sometimes it falls into: "ask permission or forgiveness" territory.
Some people build trail and then ask for forgiveness if the owner finds them. Creeks and highways have buffers of undeveloped land. Sometimes it is publicly owned and sometimes it is privately owned. If nobody is using it right now, they probably won't care if you ride your bike on it.

There is a park in my neighborhood with a lot of undeveloped woods that I've talked about building trails on with a few neighbors. City of Atlanta owns the land, but Dekalb county maintains the park. I doubt either one would care if there were trails in the woods. Hell, there are already trails through the woods from the homeless folks cutting through.

This is how we do it down in Gainesville fl. We have probably 50+ miles of trail in town, with many of questionable legality. Some get shut down or blocked off after they're discovered, others are never a problem and the city has even co-opted a few bits, put up kiosks and trail markers and turned them into city parks. Most are built by just a few guys looking for green spaces on google maps.