New trail closures..for mountain bikes

jumpa

Well-Known Member
That's disappointing

20160817_182914.jpg

20160817_200213.jpg
 

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Saw these Monday. They weren't there last week.

Way back in the day this green trail was foot traffic only. Just the small section at the bridge crossing was open to bikers. Since that time the park has allowed racing on the trail so I assumed the non-bike designation had been lifted. Someone appears to disagree.

The fact that these signs are non-official makes me question the legitimacy of it.

Paging @icebiker. Do we have a phone number to call regarding this park. Whoever is doing this stuff is out of control.
 

icebiker

JORBA: Morris Trails
JORBA.ORG
Saw these Monday. They weren't there last week.

Way back in the day this green trail was foot traffic only. Just the small section at the bridge crossing was open to bikers. Since that time the park has allowed racing on the trail so I assumed the non-bike designation had been lifted. Someone appears to disagree.

The fact that these signs are non-official makes me question the legitimacy of it.

Paging @icebiker. Do we have a phone number to call regarding this park. Whoever is doing this stuff is out of control.

Agree the situation is effed. Will PM you the person to contact.

I am also considering getting an email campaign going so the park officials hear from someone other than me. Stay tuned for more on that, as I want to do them the favor of a head's up.

For those who aren't aware from my other posts, this is being done by a different arm (Natural Resources) of MCPC than the Trails group. The latter is very supportive of our efforts and grateful for the work we do there. The former, on the other hand, is an unknown entity to us and obviously not in synch with the Trails group. I've been pushing for a meeting between all parties for some time to no avail. If no action by early Sep (some folks on vacation before then), I will escalate within MCPC.
 

icebiker

JORBA: Morris Trails
JORBA.ORG
I got a meeting set for 29th with Trails Group. We tackle the NR group thereafter. Will keep you posted.

In meantime, if someone could post up a map with some indications as to what closures you have observed (e.g. "closed" or "hiking only") and where on the map, that would be great. I know where some are, but don't have them all since I haven't been there in a while and won't be able to get there in the next few weeks.

Thanks for your help.
 

stilluf

Well-Known Member
Yes definitely let us know who to contact and when to start. This is getting ridiculous. If signs are unofficial, can we ignore?
 

xc62701

Well-Known Member
In case you were wondering the sign says " this is not a trail please use authorized trails."
 

icebiker

JORBA: Morris Trails
JORBA.ORG
Met with MCPC today. I am swamped at work so I may not be able to respond to your subsequent comments or input very quickly over the next few weeks, but I will do my best.

First, the bad news: Most of the trails in the maps that Jason provided above are likely to remain closed. The bottom line is that the Natural Resource arm is currently trying to restore the park to the trail layout/plan that was agreed to in 2002 and built over the succeeding years. Some of the trails in question are certainly rogue (the two leading to the lake). One of them (yellow on Jason's map) is meant to be foot only (it was designated as such on the 2002 plan, but signage was not made for it, so users assumed it was multi-use), and the Gilligan's trails are in MCPC territory but were never on any map (despite my pointing out that they've been there for decades).

That said,

a) I have requested to re-open the switchbacks on orange (squiggly line on Jason's map, not far from the lake). Don't have a confirm yet but am working on it
b) They had already granted an exception to the 2002 plan for our newly constructed 2016 trail/re-route on yellow, so that will remain intact.
c) There was motion in play to close the Northern Loop, across from Sunrise Lake (and you have to admit, it's a crappy trail..full of loose rubble and siltation) but I indicated that they shouldn't close it until a master plan is developed (more on that later)

The better news:
The person I met with is a new employee, hired 8 months ago, as Director of Park Planning and Development. She is trained and experienced in Bicycle and Pedestrian trails planning, including off-road. She has worked with MTB groups in Florida (such as SORBA), and fully supports multi-use trails. She is working on a Vision/Master Plan for the park system as whole, and welcomes our input. I've already shared with her multiple perspectives, including the desire to add more mileage to the park in total. She rightfully observed that MTB'ers are the largest user group at the park, and adding more mileage seemed appropriate (though of course not a given until the Master Plan is developed). I did point out that, as it stands, only 3 parks in MCPC are designated for MTB (Mahlon, Lew Mo, and Tourne) and that is not sustainable for such a large user base unless either more mileage is added at the 3 parks or more parks are developed for MTB.

Additionally, we agreed that there is a sore need for better communication from the MCPC to its user base. and to this end we have agreed on some immediate next steps until such time as the Vision is developed:

1) Proper signage at the trails heads explaining the closures and rationale
2) Submission of request to reopen Orange twisties (I'm working on this)
3) quarterly meetings between her and the volunteer crew to discuss the evolution of the park and ideas
4) submission of proposals for new/replacement trails in the park to be considered as the Vision is developed.
5) willingness to have the public reach out to her directly to provide input (I'll get something out to you all on this soon...just swamped right now)

In short, I think we are in good hands. However, things will take time to materialize. I urge us all to be patient and constructive in our inputs. If you aren't already a volunteer at Lew Mo but want to have a say, I recommend you join us. There is strength in numbers. Let me or @jumpa know your email address and we'll add you to the monthly notices.

For our volunteers, plan for rest of year is to polish the new trail if it needs any TLC, then get to work on fixing the muddy/eroded sections of yellow down by the wooden bridge near the campgrounds before the winter freeze/thaw sets in (did I just say "winter"?) More to come on this when we firm up the trail dates.
 

extremedave

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Nice work Greg! Although this is classic Big Government it is good to hear someone has common sense over there. Sounds like you made some good points, hopefully the new director keeps biking in the forefront.

Frankly there's quite a few trails in Lewis that could be closed for repairs or reroute.
 

giff06

Well-Known Member
Good job Greg! Thank you.....Pat and I love to ride Lew Mo whenever we are up that way.
E&P
 

icebiker

JORBA: Morris Trails
JORBA.ORG
All, an update for you. I have made no further progress, despite a few more emails and an hour-long conversation with the new Director, in the matter of the trail closures. As per my update above, most of them can be justified by virtue of being rogue (or in the case of Gilligans, not in the original inventory (despite the fact that they have been there for decades)). The closure that is particularly frustrating is the twisty re-route of orange, which we built in 2013 with the foreman's approval and is clearly superior to the old, eroded, fall line trail. The reasons given don't jive with me, and I won't go into them here, but suffice it to say we had to agree to disagree. I am at least grateful that the newest section of yellow that we built this year will remain intact.

I don't think all hope is lost, but it will be a much longer time I'm afraid before any action can be taken on these. I suspect they will have to be addressed as/when the next master plan is put together in 2017. I am also a bit discouraged from our most recent conversation that, contrary to my understanding from our first meeting, it is unlikely the park's trail system will be expanded to add more mileage. Re-routes may be the best we can get, at least for the short term. Again, I don't think we have to give up hope, but rather be patient.

As promised: If you would like to contact the new Director yourself to express your perspective on Lewis Morris (whether it be on the closures or any other aspect of the Morris County Parks System, good or bad), please feel free to do so. Her name is Denise Chaplick, and she can be reached at dchaplick@morrisparks.net (973 326 7605). I confirmed in advance that she is open to any and all feedback. The more perspective she hears from folks other than me, the more it will help toward painting a full picture of user input.

If you do reach out to her, please be as constructive as possible and avoid any potentially inflammatory comments. Constructive criticism is ok too; Denise is good people. Remember she is catering to a wide breadth of park users, not just MTB'ers.

Thanks in advance.

(Note that I will be travelling overseas for a week on business tomorrow so I may not be able to get back to you quickly if you have further questions/input)
 

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