Anchorage Bike Plan

Greetings Singletrack Advocates,

There will be a public hearing of the Anchorage Bike Plan before the Anchorage Assembly on Tuesday, March 2, at 6 p.m. at the Loussac Library. It will be vitally important to achieve critical mass of cyclists at this meeting. If you cannot attend, PLEASE send an email message to your assembly member in favor of the bike plan.

Here is the link to the draft plan.

ASSEMBLY MEMBERS:

Chris Birch 346-3265 chrisbirch@gci.net
Matt Claman 350-3105 mattclaman@gmail.com
Dan Coffey 274-3385 274-4258 dancoffey@gci.net
Harriet Drummond 279-7763, 279-7788 harrietdrummond@alaska.com
Chair Patrick Flynn 278-8462 flynnpp@muni.org
Elvi Gray-Jackson 343-4118, Gray-JacksonE@muni.org
Vice Chair Mike Gutierrez 382-5972, gutierrezM@muni.org
Jennifer Johnston 346-1087, jjohnston@gci.net
Debbie Ossiander 688-2308, 343-4113, ossiander@gci.net
Sheila Selkregg 338-3636, selkregg@yahoo.com
Bill Starr 694-5060, 343-4114, 350-5481, starrwe@muni.org

Winter Trail Etiquette

It’s been a beautiful winter and many of you have been out enjoying the trails on your new snow bikes. Since there is a learning curve to most things, we wanted to post this announcement about trail etiquette.

Thank you for being courteous to other trail users and for refraining from riding on ski-only and mushing trails. The new sign posts are marked with appropriate uses now, so knowing which trail is multiuse has never been easier. Mushing trails are particularly risky for poaching. The dogs run fast and silently, and they can seem to come out of nowhere. These trails are maintained by the Alaska Sled Dog Racing Association and they have been in heavy use this season. ASDRA says that mushers do train on their trails at night for long distance racing, particularly when daytime temperatures rise. In that situation, training is best done at night, when it’s colder.

There is a growing concern in Chugach State Park. There were a limited number of permits distributed to study the impact of winter riding. Granted, there are other users that punch through the snow, but we can do our part to make relationships better. The lobby to keep us out of Chugach State Park is large and vocal.

STA is producing a reminder card with trail etiquette points. These will soon be distributed in bike shops and made available at special events.

Thanks. Be kind and enjoy your ride!

WINTER RIDING ETIQUETTE

Avoid Freshly Groomed Trails—Refrain from riding until they harden.

Ride Multi-Use Trails—Winter biking is prohibited on ski-only and mushing trails.

Wider Wheels = Easier Riding—Fat tires improve flotation.

If In Doubt, Let Air Out—Over-inflated tires dig ruts into soft snow.

Be Courteous—Yield to other users. Signal to pass.

Uphill Traffic Has the Right-of-Way.

Phase II update

Greetings Singletrack Advocates,

I wish I could announce that our Christmas present this year would be permission to build Phase II of the singletrack project. Unfortunately at tonight’s Parks & Recreation Commission meeting the Commission voted to leave the original Phase II area out of the trails plan. As a small token of concession, however, the Commission did agree to insert within the body of the plan, mention that the area below Stuckagain Heights neighborhood is suitable terrain for singletrack. Essentially, this is a nod to STA for being good community partners and it is an official record for future Parks & Rec Commission members that this debate did occur. As institutional knowledge goes, it’s only as good as those present at the table … unless of course there is a paper trail (no pun intended).

Here are some other items of note:

• Rover’s Run will be closed seasonally from spring through fall, and will be opened for winter use. How the Muni proposes to close the trail (signage vs. physical barriers) remains to be decided.
• An alternative route to Rover’s remains in the plan—it connects the Gasline Corridor to Black Bear Trail to a new trail just south of Moose Meadow.
• The area known to us as “Baseball Boogie” (adjacent the Elmore ballfield, Sahallee neighborhood and Service High School) shall be noted in the plan as reserved for Class I/II trails (very narrow, unaltered tread) in keeping with its current character—I requested this in order to preserve the intricate network of social trails that the adjacent neighborhood uses and which is becoming increasingly popular among those of us who like handlebar-width tree clearances and root balls every 10-20 feet. In all seriousness, these trails are a lot of fun to ride.

The next stop for this trails plan is the Urban Design Commission for final adoption.

I’m sorry that I don’t have much better news. Thank you to those of you who came to offer support. Be prepared to turn out in droves as the public debate gets going on the master plans for Chugach State Park and Section 36!

Janice

Trail damage

This week's rain and warm temperatures have made a mess of the trails. (Just when they were getting good, too!)

Riders are reporting slushy trails, pools of water and "unrideable" conditions. Until the weather cools and the trails harden again, bikes will only create nasty ruts and delay the return of good riding surfaces.

Please monitor weather trail conditions before venturing out.

Section 36 Comments

Comments are being accepted for the Section 36 Master Plan until Nov. 30. You never know who will come out of the woodwork, so it doesn’t hurt to get out the vote. If you haven’t done so already, please go to this link and write a few sentences for trails!

Click here to comment.

Want more singletrack?

A public open house will be held for the Section 36 Master Plan on Tuesday, November 10 from 5:30 – 7 p.m. at Goldenview Middle School.

This meeting will be to gather input from members of the Anchorage community on the type of use and level of development for the 640-acre park in southeast Anchorage, known as Section 36.

A Master Plan is being prepared for Section 36 by the Municipality of Anchorage’s Parks & Recreation Department. The Master Plan will be based on a conceptual level, determining the type and level of use, facilities, and access to be provided by the park.

For more information, contact Alison Lohrke, Public Involvement Planner for Dowl HKM. (907) 562-2000.

(Note: Singletrack Advocates has already submitted comments on this issue, and encourages everyone to attend this event to speak up for the development of singletrack in Section 36.)

Autumn on the trails

Late-season riding on the new trails
has been beautiful.

Pretty soon, all the fallen leaves will
make it difficult to see the trail tread.

The log bridge is getting a lot of use
by riders bold enough to try it ...

and from a few who probably shouldn't.
Fortunately, the landing is (sort of) soft.

Go ride before it snows.