By Vernon Robison
Moapa Valley Progress
Published April 29, 2009
http://www.mvprogress.com/2009/17/trails
A public workshop was held on Thursday, April 23 to discuss the ongoing Open Space and Trails planning projects. There are currently two separate studies underway to plan the use of public lands and trails in and around the lower Moapa Valley community. The Open Space study, being conducted by EDAW Inc., focuses on a future network of open space and trails in the BLM Disposal Area on the eastern bench of the lower valley. A second study, the Moapa Valley Trail Study, is being led by Alta Planning and Design and focuses on a trail system within the private, developed portions of the community.
Local residents gather round to give input on a set of maps showing different concepts for a trails plan for the community. The public was invited to a workshop last week dealing with the trails and open space planning process which is currently ongoing.
At Thursday's workshop, Mike Rose of Alta Planning began by presenting findings from a recent community survey dealing with trails. "We took a User Needs survey to see what does the community want in a trails network," Rose said. The survey was conducted between January 22 and April 16 and included 121 responses received over that period by members of the public with a variety of different trail use interests, Rose said.
The survey asked what types of trails respondents were interested in seeing. Multiple answers were allowed. Walking trails were the most in demand with 75% of respondents showing interest; 66% were interested in ATV/OHV trails, 42% in bicycle trails, 33% in equestrian trails and 28% in running/jogging trails.
About 31% of those interested in walking trails stated that they currently use Moapa Valley Blvd as a place to walk. Many expressed concerns about safety on the highway where there are no sidewalks. Many expressed interest in additional bicycling trails. Of those who did, only 7% said that they bicycle on a daily basis. "This indicates that there would be a lot more cyclists if there were more trails," Rose said.
About 72% of those interested in ATV/OHV trails reported that they currently often cross Moapa Valley Blvd to access trails. Many ATV users expresed concerns about losing access to areas that they currently enjoy.
Of those responding with interest in equestrian trails, all reported owning two or more horses. About 70% of them reported that they begin their trail rides from their homes. "It is important to them to be able to keep that kind of access to the area," Rose said.
When asked what kind of amenities they would like to see on the proposed trails, Moapa Valley residents stayed with the basics. "Most of the amenities that they selected dealt with just having the trails," Rose said. This included things like trail connections, wide shoulders, regular maintenance and connections to parks. "There weren't a lot of high end amenities listed, probably because you don't have any trails right now," Rose said. "If you had trails, we might start seeing more of the higher end amenities being requested. But the message seemed to be just - we want trails!"
Rose showed a map of a preliminary concept that his group had developed for a trails plan and asked for input.
The concept began with the Muddy River Flood Channel being a linear spine down the middle of the area. From there, non-motorized trails running east and west would connect to other smaller trails and loops. "This way it would be possible for people to go for a walk from their home and take a different loop almost every day of the week," Rose said.
Further north and south, on the perimeters of the community, motorized trails went out from the central spine. A separate north-south spine for motorized use was being looked at along the railroad tracks. Rose stated that his group had contacted the railroad to discuss adopting that trail as part of the railroad right of way. The railroad officials had expressed concerns about safety and liability. But Rose said that discussions were still ongoing.
The Open Space planning portion of the meeting also focused on trails. Representatives from EDAW presented an initial concept that was also proposed for trails in the BLM disposal area. This included both motorized and non-motorized access to the area.
The concept had a non-motorized north-south corridor on the eastern edge of the community bordering the BLM land. This would provide a scenic alternative to the Muddy River trail in the valley below.
Motorized trails would provide and maintain access across the BLM disposal lands and connect to areas to the east beyond the disposal lands and to the west to the Logandale trails area. In addition, the concept would provide a large open OHV area northeast of the Bowman Reservoir where ATV users could ride free within that area.
The two planners stated that they are working together to ensure that the two plans can interface with each other. Additional information on the Moapa Valley Trails plan is available at http://moapavalleytrailstudy.org./http://. Information about the open space plan is available at http://www.moapavalleyopenspace.org/.
