IMPORTANT Trail meeting tonight!!

jdog

Shop: Halter's Cycles
Shop Keep
I just got this e-mail, take note of the link included.

Sorry for the late notice, but tomorrow evening (Feb. 18, 2009) at 7:30 PM in
the Franklin Township Municipal Building, the Township's Planning Board will be
holding a public hearing to consider the adoption of the Trails Advisory
Committee's Pathway & Trails Plan into the Township's Master Plan. If you have
any interest at all in seeing additional and/or better biking & hiking trails on
or along the Township's substantial open space property, please stop by and
voice your support. Here is a link to the Pathway & Trails Plan:

http://www.franklintwpnj.org/TAC_Final_PTP__Dec-19-2008.pdf.

Thanks for your
support!

Mark Fortin
Trails Advisory Committee member
 

THATmanMANNY

Well-Known Member
Oh i love planning board meetings :puke:
But for real im gonna say i probably might be able to make it. I'm working till 7ish 5 min away so it doesn't give me an excuse to not swing by :D
 

THATmanMANNY

Well-Known Member
Wow! This is more impactful than I thought. This deserves a double post.

Guys if you read the pdf. Like 10+ pages out of the 40 pertains to 6mile and the surrounding areas. They are talking about putting paved bike paths in there for ROAD bikes? :confused: The report actually says road bikes (what they mean by that I don't know). C'mon, like really?! Way to rob the outdoor experience. Gravel & stones, is fine, but paved paths?! Just to link up Franklin trails? Ride the road or the towpath! Well that's just my opinion and it sounds like it can be a good thing to link everything up in Franklin but I think its not cool to pave bike paths in these farmland areas. :( Also, doesn't the bike industry sell more mtb type bikes that are suitable for at least light trail use then "road" type bikes? I hope they have a huge master map of this plan of trails at the meeting, cause the little screenshots of the maps in the report is poor and you can't tell where they are.
 
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BiknBen

Well-Known Member
Wow! ...They are talking about putting paved bike paths in there for ROAD bikes? :confused: The report actually says road bikes (what they mean by that I don't know). C'mon, like really?!

Read thoroughly!!!

The Trails Advisory Commitee (TAC) is recommending that the previously proposed paved path around the perimeter of 6-Mile is excessive.

Stuff that Manny missed said:
There currently exists, in the NJ Trails Plan, a recommendation that all field edges in the Six Mile Run Reservoir Site include a 20-foot wide corridor adjacent to lands currently or recently under agricultural tillage. This would result, the NJ Trails Plan states, in over 37 miles of trails on the Site. The TAC thinks that this is excessive and would remove too much land from agricultural production and, accordingly, recommends a much more modest trail system to be located with the boundaries of the Six Mile Run Reservoir Site.
 

THATmanMANNY

Well-Known Member
Actually I did not miss that. Appendix 2 says road bikes this and that. So sorry I quickly browsed thru it. Is Appendix 2 the revised plan or the plan?
 

BiknBen

Well-Known Member
quote about Canal Road from Page 10 said:
8. Canal Road. Canal road is heavily utilized by bicyclist and given its narrow size, two suggestions are made:

o The Township should conduct a public hearing to solicit input on a pilot project for limited temporary closure, of Canal Road to all except local resident traffic for the purpose of enhancing biking along this scenic corridor. Temporary blockades would be placed at strategic locations and the speed limit marked as 10 miles per hour during the limited closure period. The TAC is recommending a four month trial period, during which Canal Road would be closed for three hours on Sunday mornings. At the end of the four-month trial period, the closure-plan should be evaluated.

o The Township should investigate and implement traffic-calming measures along Canal Road. This road is heavily utilized by on-road cyclists and the posted speed limit is often ignored by those driving cars. Suggested measures to investigate include speed humps, better signage, lower speed limits and speed limit enforcement.

This is a pretty big deal. Canal road is very popular among road cyclists. It is very flat, wooded, and scenic. Unfortunately, many motorists use it to bypass Route 27 and 206 traffic. Many cyclists report of being harassed and/or buzzed by motorists traveling too fast on this narrow road.
 
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Deezul

New Member
From what I have been able to see from the plan is it looks like most of it focuses on a path around the perimeter of the park for the roadies, and they don't seem like the plan to mess around with the mountain trails very much.

I was under the impression that its a competely different office that dealt with the trails in there. The only thing I can see changing is the proposed bridge (page 24)

"Proposed improvement: Pedestrian bridge over the Six Mile Run Stream to connect the
existing red trail and yellow trails at he “oxbow” of the stream near So. Middlebush Rd
Surface Type - impervious, bridge"

I can't visualize where that is on the trail from the graphic that they give, however maybe someone can assist.
 

BiknBen

Well-Known Member
Here is another point of interest for us:

Quote about Dawn to Dusk enforcement said:
Enforcement. The Township needs to be prepared to respond to complaints about, and to enforce violations of the Township’s Ordinance that states that parks and open space are closed dusk to dawn. The Township should also consider hiring park rangers to scout the trails and enforce regulations.

It may be time to stop parking in the route 27 lot after dark. :rolleyes:
 

THATmanMANNY

Well-Known Member

clarkenstein

JORBA Board Member/Chapter Leader
JORBA.ORG
i just saw this - i'm gonna try to get to this... i'm working in yonkers, so i may be late...
 

rlb

Well-Known Member
I'm going to read through this at lunch to see whats what, i browsed quickly and saw a lot of the recommendations pertained to 6 mile. It seems like this will be touchy..."We want bike access....but not road bike access" is a tough position to argue, I'm sure. Also, these is a consultant listed on the cover page. Might want to look into the quals of the company if any of these recommendations sound off the wall.
 

BiknBen

Well-Known Member
It's the part in the middle of this awesomeness map where the red and blue meet and the blue crosses over the river.

Proposed bridge location near South Middlebush. This is the spot where we all complain about getting our feet wet.

smiddlebush_bridge.jpg


The other proposed location is at Canal Road. The Red Trail ends at Canal Road. There is limited sight distance and it is just a matter of time before someone gets hit when they enter the road without looking. This bridge would allow users to cross the creek without going out onto the road.

Canal_Rd_Bridge.jpg
 

BiknBen

Well-Known Member
So someone help me understand something. Can/will non-residents make any impact on a planning board meeting such as this?

Are people given an opportunity to stand and make a statement? Can a non-resident make a statement?
 

rlb

Well-Known Member
So someone help me understand something. Can/will non-residents make any impact on a planning board meeting such as this?

Are people given an opportunity to stand and make a statement? Can a non-resident make a statement?

I think non-residents will have an impact....

Page 3 said:
...and this PTP is meant to guide the Township and other levels of
government in the development of safe, comprehensive, and enjoyable trails for residents both within and outside of Franklin Township.

Page 7 said:
Purpose. A Township of Franklin Trails Advisory Committee is hereby
established to involve trail users and Township residents in advising Township
departments, the Manager and the Council on issues related to trail acquisition,
design, maintenance and use.
 

rlb

Well-Known Member
Some other points of interest:

Pages 10 (item 7) & 13
There is discussion of volunteer groups to adopt and maintain trails within Six Mile. Someone in attendance should note that the mtb community is an existing organized group that has already volunteered 100s of hours and will continue to do so.
 

rlb

Well-Known Member
It's the part in the middle of this awesomeness map where the red and blue meet and the blue crosses over the river.

My map is getting some action today :D

This plan looks like a good thing. The concerns I have are the paved paths suitable for road bikes. I think the recommendation is for these paved paths to run parallel to roadways, but its hard to tell because the mapping is not reproduced at a readable scale.

However, if they wanted to run paved paths through the woods I think a lot of people would object. It also wouldn't fly environmentally.

Here's a nice reccomended project:

Page 24 said:
Six Mile Run Reservoir Site
Proposed improvement: Trail and trail markers from Jacques Lane to meet up with the existing Red trail; Surface Type - pervious, natural
 

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