Support city bike trail project

The city of Medford made the right call last week when council members approved giving the go-ahead for the creation of a mountain bike trail loop in a littleused portion of the Medford city park.

At the June 18 city council meeting, members approved allowing a group of off-road bicycle enthusiasts to begin work to develop a trail in an existing grove of pine trees on the hillside southwest of city baseball diamonds in the park where the city park borders Billings Ave.

While the trail loop will be relatively small, it represents the first phase of bringing additional offroad bicycle trails around the city to expand on outdoor recreational opportunities in the community. Because of the nature of trail riding, this is a complimentary activity utilizing what would be, at best, marginal recreational land for other activities. Bike trails would increase the utilization of spaces. This is a great opportunity for the city of Medford and the surrounding area to tap into an outdoor exercise and recreational activity that has proved to maintain its popularity across generations.

The plan calls for the development of single-track trails through the wooded area up and down the hillside as well as create a number of skill obstacles for riders to practice technique and build skills.

As with many things, money is a major obstacle to making the bike trail system a reality. The city of Medford has committed to provide the space, some materials, and the assistance of public works personnel. In keeping with past practice when community members have come forward with ideas for community improvements, the city has not committed to providing money for the project.

Instead, and rightfully, city leaders challenged the group to do the work to raise funds for the project. You appreciate what you have to work to get. Compared to other types of recreational developments, this trail project does not have a massive price tag. Hiring a professional to do the work to put in a sustainable trail would be well under $20,000 on the high end. Utilizing skilled volunteers and material and equipment support from the city, the cost can be greatly reduced.

The next step for the outdoor biking enthusiasts is to build a coalition of support within the community and find partners, such as local service organizations like the Kiwanis, Lions and Rotary clubs to help with the fundraising, organization and work efforts.

Bringing in community partners for activities and projects creates more buy-in among the general community and helps groups avoid waste through the duplication of effort allowing resources to be directed to the project.

It is vitally important to get people, especially young people, active and outside away from their couches, cellphones and computer screens. Projects such as the development of off-road bike trails in the community are a good step in doing this and are worthy of community support.