If you have ridden or walked on Omaha trails recently you may have noticed that there are many trail closures. The April 2023 Trails update from the Omaha Parks Department included closures on the Keystone Trail, the Riverfront Trail, and the Big Papio Trail. Mode Shift members noticed that some trails have detours for closures and some do not. Many use the trails for transportation and recreation and having no detours or difficult detours limits access and could reduce trail usage and push trail users into more dangerous situations such as sidewalks on busy streets. So, Mode Shift Omaha’s Bike Team is launching a petition to the City of Omaha to request safe detours for all trail closures!
Petition Text:
Recognizing that the Omaha Trail System will periodically require closure for maintenance and repair, whether scheduled or emergency, and further recognizing that bicyclists and pedestrians rely on the trail system for transportation access to many parts of the city, we the undersigned ask that the City of Omaha, its departments, and its contractors be required to provide safe and marked detours around such closures. Such consideration is already given to occupants of motor vehicles whenever a section of the road system is closed; we deserve similar consideration when one of our major transportation routes is denied to us.
Example of a current trail closure on the Big Papio Trail that does not show a detour.
This is a great petition. I ride the keystone, west Papio and big Papio trails on a regular basis and get frustrated with frequent closures and there is no posted detour. I will be signing this petition. I will be passing this petition on to my local bike shop to help spread the word. It would be great if others would do the same.
Not having a detour plan, and good marking showing roadway detour routes is an accident waiting to happen. Trail detours and signage are common place in Colorado which also has a tremendous traffic requirement. It can be done and it is irrelevant where people might want to go. Just mark the trail detour and users will go from there and need to take caution on routes to and from the trail.