By Lauren Young
Staff Writer
Last January, mountain bike trails, sharable amongst bikers and hikers alike, was discussed for implementation at Duguid Park in Fayetteville. Now, those trails are going in.
With support from local mountain biking clubs and resident hikers, new biking trails are being implemented in Duguid Park, which features approximately 12 acres of “mature forestland,” according to the village’s 2018 Comprehensive Plan.
Workers have started the process, which explains the logging road starting at the park’s entrance, and will finish by next week, said Mayor Mark Olson. Workers will soon return to the site to clean up remaining half-hanging trees, debris and dead trees left over, he said.
Some bikers, said Olson, have already started using the site.
“More people are going to use this now than ever,” said Olson.
According to the village’s 2018 Comprehensive Plan, mountain bike trails were discussed at a parks commission meeting on June 8, 2017. Derek Zipprich, Fayetteville resident and coach of the FM Mountain Bike Club, proposed dirt trails, to be used for bikers and walkers, a small bike skills area and a pump track at Duguid Park, as well as some more trails within Golden Park.
During a public hearing about the Parks Master Plan on Jan. 8, 2018, several residents advocated for the construction of bike trails, especially from members of local biking clubs like the FM Mountain Bike Club and the Salt Springs Mountain Bike Club, as well as resident hikers who approved of the trails, so long as they were maintained by either the clubs or the village.
According to minutes from that meeting, a Duguid Park logging project was reviewed and approved in 2017 to begin for winter 2018.
Two of the 2018 Comprehensive Plan’s five-year goals and priorities include building trails in Duguid, Golden and Briar Brook Parks and developing Duguid Park with trail system improvements, bike skills park, dog park and reservoir improvements.
According to the plan, first phase development of the park includes additions like an improved entry driveway from Duguid Road, parking, trails and interpretative signs and benches.
Olson said the village has been transparent about the process, holding a public hearing earlier this year and working alongside the Recreation Department, DPW and Cornell Cooperative Extension to get the work done.
“This isn’t just something we came up with; we’ve been working on it for a long time,” said Olson. “This wasn’t a hidden process.”
