Tuesday, October 30

Sad for Tranquility


Some of the work that Doug and a few of us put in will be obliterated starting tomorrow, Oct 31. Today, Doug and I received an email from Dennis, Omaha Park Planner, showing the construction for six more tennis courts.

Most of the iceplex addition looks to be intack but be aware of the construction in the area. The earthmovers and dozers will probably be working outside the box.

Dennis requested the re-reroute to be flagged so he can approve it prior to mowing.


9 comments:

Stratomatic said...

Ugh! Tennis Sucks!

bryan said...

Flag the reroute through the tennis courts!

Tim Wieland said...

Oh man, after all that work ... I'm really bummed. This stinks.

1by9 said...

I just posted my mountain bike on E-bay and bought a prepaid years dues in tennis court fees.

Maybe horse stables will be added to Tranquility soon.

Biker Bob/Runner Bob said...

With the way you come off your existing mount, I don't think horseback riding would be a good idea for you 1by9.

POLOSCAB said...

Thats it! Now I am dressing up as Serena Williams for sure tonight. It will not be pretty. No justice, no peace.

dale said...

Dennis told us additional courts would be added but Doug and I remember different numbers for how big it would be. Dennis was suppose to send us the pic in order to layout the trail around it. We went ahead without it and lost some work.

Fortunately, I think only the trail just north of the courts will be gone, and possibly the iceplex trail that skirts the NW corner of the courts. Depending on the final landscape, we may be able to bring the lost trail back online later. Either way, the bulk of Doug's redesign looks to remain until future expansion, erosion, or maintenance load demands a reroute.

Doug said he viewed the praire as an erasible board that can be redrawn if something doesn't work. He just didn't think it would be redrawn this quickly.

When THOR first received permission to build a trail in Tranquility, we were told mtb users are at the bottom of the totem pole, all the current users have priority over us. As land manager, the city is trying to meet the recreational needs of its constituents. It's a difficult balancing act.

I can see a future where we loose most or all of the prairie to soccer, tennis, and maybe a lake. I have given up trying to keep the trail density low. It's not my decision anyway since Doug is the Tranquility trail leader (I've had struggles letting go of my baby - sniff, sniff). Trail additions and maintenance reflect the philosophy of the trail leader. Tradition can be good and bad. Trail leaders are to operate within IMBA's guidelines, otherwise, their previous trail building experience, likes and dislikes of flow meld with the topography to give a trail personality. And our mistakes of not regularly shedding water off the trail are revealed as well.

The long term mtb trail in Tranquility may reside from the feeder creek and to the north of Fort Street where a trail can fit in the available land while other rec useages can't. That is probably the best land management use.

Stratomatic said...

I rode out to the south section tonight after work and took my camera. So far it doesn't look like much has been done. I put a few photos on my blog.

dale said...

While trimming in the bypass to route around the construction, talk with Ed who runs the Koch Tennis Center. He thought the additional courts were going straight west of the east courts and not extending farther north. He said these courts are already 700' away from the clubhouse. Sounds like he didn't want to expand farther north.

So hopefully there will be enough room for a trail along the north side of the courts to bring the 1.5 miles back online.