Progress, but More Needed!

As you can see in the photos, there has been progress made along the West Papio trail.  Last Sunday a group of roughly 20 volunteers attacked several locations along the trail and managed to clear several portions.  The largest section being about a 1/4 mile stretch just north of Blondo.  Bridges north and south of Pacific as well as behind Morton Elementary were cleared as well.  One significant problem remains.  A large section of trail from West Center Road all the way to 144th & 'F' Street remains snow and ice packed.  It's apparent that a large tractor traveled down the trail and removed the top half of snow, but they didn't drop the blade to the ground so a 4-6" of ice and snow remain.  This renders this portion pretty much useless unless you're on snowshoes or hiking boots.  Riding a bike is impossible. 

The City was notified about the section behind Morton Elementary and this problem was addressed the very next day.  They managed to plow this section.  If only they could have continued south down the trail they could have opened the trail system completely.

What can you do?  If you live in the area, or feel like putting in a few volunteer hours, grab a shovel and head down the West Papio Trail starting at West Center Road or Scutt Catholic and clear snow.  If the trail itself is too wet to clear you can always attack the bridges.  There's a bridge at Bob Boozer just south of Pacific that needs a lot of work as well as a bridge near the 'Y' split that connects to 144th Street, towards 24-Hour fitness.  If we can get the bridges cleared then city crews can most likely address the rest.  We need to get this done before the next snow fall! 

Last update we've heard on the Keystone is that it's been cleared from the blockage behind Nebraska Furniture Mart all the way to Mercy.  No one has reported any problems south of this location (Aksarben?).  If there aer any spots that volunteers could clear please post them here so they can be addressed. 

Our goal is to get the trails completely cleared ASAP so we're ready for the next snow fall.  Volunteers are meeting with the head of Parks and Rec in the near future to work on plans on how to address future snowfalls and trail clearing.  The positive news is that Parks and Rec appears to welcome the idea of volunteers helping their crews clear the trail.  We'll keep you posted.  Until then, keep organizing groups in your neighborhood and spreading the word.  All we need is a few handfuls of neighbors who's property backs to the trails to take interest in the trails.