Last evening at Canutillo High School, Regional Engineer Bob Bielek and his staff unveiled their plan for the new park entrance at the Tom Mays Unit of the Franklin Mountains State Park. You can review the plan on one of my previous blog posts HERE. The plan met with enthusiasm from a small but happy sample of the local outdoors, environmental/conservation, recreation and Master Naturalists community. Almost as soon as the meeting ended last evening the chatter on Facebook began and it is all positive.
During the first thirty minutes of the gathering, people reviewed pictures of the proposed underpass for hikers, bicyclists and animals as well as pictures of the entry and egress configurations for the park. There were a number of TxDOT and design engineers on hand to answer questions. Bielek also was on hand to answer questions and visit. He then informally addressed the gathering and explained safety and wildlife issues and park access issues.
The point that I really want to make here is how comfortable the situation was. Two years ago the scene was totally different. Former Engineer Chuck Berry of TxDOT had plans and wasn't willing to listen. I remember well that as person after person came to the mike to speak about the need for connectivity between the two sides of the park, a workable animal corridor, etc., etc., Chuck and company sat at front and chatted among themselves. They weren't listening. Not only did Bielek's plans show that they listened and listened to wildlife experts such as Dr. Cesar Mendez and Lois Balin, but that they heard from hikers and mountain bikers and did their homework on safety issues.
Bielek discussed the traffic issues and satisfied the group assembled that a left turn into the park going east on Transmountain would still be safe whereas a left out of the park to go east would not be as safe as requiring a U-Turn of sorts. That U-turn (a right out of the park going west and a U-Turn at Resler) is not the perfect solution - but it sure is safer and it saves the park entrance from having an enormous scar of a concrete and asphalt entryway. The simple U-Turn versus an enormous exchange is, obviously, cheaper.
Bielek also explained the need to go after Denial of Access funds. The modificaitons at the entry are really not transportation issues but right of way issues. There is funding for ROW work and that is separate from the discretionary funds that he seemed to think would work earlier. The cost will be $1.5-2 Million. Some of the local politicians on hand seemed to think that there might be a way to get funding sooner than later. Whatever, Bielek now projects that the project can be done in 15 to 18 months from today or March to June 2015.
Because of our previous experience with TxDOT and the former Engineer, it has been easy to expect the same level of duplicity and arrogance from Bielek. Bielek is a guy who likes to wear cowboy boots, visit with folks, get feedback while at the same time possessing the maddening trait that comes from believing that we are all subject to the laws of the Universe, Nature, physics, what have you. He's not a person who cares so much about policy. He's the kind of person who takes current policy as a given in the equation. Basically it is "here is what I can do for you folks - what we can do based on natural law and what the laws of the land will currently let me do." When at first he said that discretionary funds would do the trick, he wasn't trying to deceive just trying to figure out how it could work for the folks he serves.
The plans unveiled last night and the informal straight-talk of the Regional Engineer went a long way to heal a very fractured relationship between conservationists along with outdoors recreationalists and TxDOT here in El Paso. There are still serious institutional issues and there will always be that struggle for balance between environmental and economic values. But one thing is for sure - Bielek's TxDOT office knows what a real animal corridor looks like and knows that people enjoy hiking and bicycling in our beautiful Franklin Mountains. Now if we can just do something to convince them to be a bit more pro-bicycle . . .
By the way, your comments are needed. At issue is what most of us have been saying all along: We need connectivity. The Transmountain expansion has cut off access between the two sides of the park. Hikers, bicyclists and animals need safe, attractive corridors. Right of way to the park must be safe. This plan does it. Email your comments to ELP-FMSParkEntrance@txdot.gov. If you prefer snail mail - okay - here it is:
Blanton & Associates
Attn: Connectivity at the Franklin Mountains State Park
5 Lakeway Centre Court
Suite 200
Austin, TX 78734
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