It's been a long spring, summer and fall and now we're entering our next winter season in Omaha. To say we've lucked out with the weather this season is an understatement. This time last year we were neck-deep in snow. Keeping our fingers crossed we won't relive some of the blizzards we experienced last year.
This brings me to the following update. There have been a few of us working behind the scenes trying to resolve the issues we have in Omaha with the lack of snow removal from our three major transportation paths, the Keystone, Big Papio and West Papio trails. If you're familiar with this blog or our Facebook page then you already know what the Guerilla Trail Crew is about. We are an ever-growing group of active volunteers who chose to act rather than sit back and complain. We have worked diligently since last February with the City of Omaha and Douglas County to fix some of the problems we encounter with lack of trail maintenance. And I think we're making headway! At our last Activate Omaha 'Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Committee' (BPAC) meeting we decided to create a Trail Maintenance subcommittee made up of myself, Dave R. (from Bike Masters) and Carlos Morales, our city's Bike/Ped Coordinator.
This past Tuesday December 21st, 2010 the BPAC Trail Maintenance subcommittee met and devised a strategy on how to address Park's & Rec's trail removal policy. In short, Parks & Rec's new policy has 'Trail Snow Removal' at the bottom of the list. As we understand it Parks & Rec prioritizes their snow removal based off of immediacy. Schools, sidewalks and community centers all rank higher in priority with the three major transportation trails taking last place. This is not acceptable and we hope to change this policy in our next meeting with Parks & Rec, which will be in January 2011.
If you want to get involved and help 'fight the good fight' then please jump on board. If you're a trail user then you're obligated to help. Merely paying taxes isn't enough in todays climate. If we want something done and the government can't do its job then it's time that "we the people" take action. Sitting back and complaining that "All Douglas County snow removal on trails suck!" does not help. Getting off your rear-end and affecting change is the help we need. Whether it be through attending meetings, being vocal and reporting problems to Parks & Rec or grabbing a snow shovel and clearing snow from a trouble area...this is what makes up the Guerrilla Trail Crew.
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I will report back on our January meeting with Parks & Rec. Until then I have a homework assignment for you all. We need leaders in our communities to meet with their neighbors and their neighborhood associations and organize trail clearing teams. Most important are the neighborhoods that back up to, or are in close proximity to the trail systems. Take for instance the West Papio Trail network. There are several subdivisions that attach to the trail. We need teams from each subdivision to organize trail clearing outings each time we have a snow storm. Our goal at our next meeting with the city is to get their crews to clear ALL of the trail system but leave the bridges untouched. Clearing the bridges takes time and resources that the city can't keep up with. If community volunteer teams could "adopt a bridge" then we could keep the entire network open. It's a give and take. Hopefully in the future the city will have the resources to take full responsibility of trail maintenance in Omaha. Until then we need to take responsibility of our parks and trails if we want them accessible year round.
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