Is There a Future for the Palisades Trailhead?

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This past Saturday, Lost Dog Trailhead (Redd Road Trail Head), was dedicated by the Borderland Mountain Bike Association. On hand were Martin Bartlett, representing the EPWU/PSB and Marci Tuck of the City's Parks and Recreation Department. Members of the West Texas Urban Forestry Council (Los Tree Amigos) presented a check from a grant that went to landscaping the trail head with Honey Mesquites.

BMBA officer and emcee for the dedication, Brent Sanders, shared the cost figures for the trailhead. The final cost of the project was $30,000. "The BMBA ponied up about $10,000 cash for permits, PSB fees to rent the land, fines (the City hit us with a whopping $600) and materials," according to Sanders. "The rest of the money came from donations of both materials and people's time." A big contributor was Jobe Materials that provided gravel and rock.

Now let's move to the Palisades - an uncompleted Open Space project because of an earlier failure to purchase enough land and the usual bureaucratic red tape - much of which is wrapped around the City's Engineering Department.

After the Palisades was purchased with Open Space money, plans for trail improvements including amenities were drawn by Huitt-Zollars and McGann and Associates. Here's one scenario:

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Here's another:

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There's a third scenario. It seems all 3 are now in the bowels of the City's Engineering Department - what is it - two, three years after the purchase and bids went out for designs. 

Unfortunately, the scenarios weren't ever vetted first by neighbors, hikers or mountain bikers. The failure to include neighbors in the planning led City Council Representative, Ann Lilly, not to specifically target bond funds for the Palisades entrance. The project still can be done with other bond money. The hope is that there will be more input first. Some neighbors fear that the improvements will only lead to more pedestrian and biking traffic behind their homes resulting in more noise and other nuisances. This picture shows the proximity of some homes to the main trail:

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It was an easy walk from the backyard of the home in the picture to the trail. 

I'm sure that much of the concern can be addressed by educating hikers and mountain bikers about respecting the privacy due residences in the area. Signage showing where the Palisades open space ends and private property begins could also help although boulders mark the boundary in this location:

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A simple sign can be created saying something such as "Please help keep the noise level down until the top (or bottom) of the hill and respect the privacy of neighboring homes. Thanks for your understanding and help." 

Simple improvements to the parking (which is now done on gravel at the bottom of the hill anyway) along with some signage and amenities can make this entrance to premier El Paso open space and, eventually, into the State Park very attractive. It's not just a matter of promoting natural open space and recreation but a way to show our civic pride. People will be good neighbors if asked.

Time to pick Zollars 1, 2 or 3 or follow BMBA's lead. It will be interesting at the November 7th OSAB meeting to see how Engineering has tweaked the plans - stalled them is more like it.