Hey guys, I realise I probably havent explained the process being used at Murray Valley so Im going to to my best below, and hopefully this answers most concerns. If you have any questions post here and Ill try and answer as best as possible. Ill try keep it short but bear with me! Firstly it should be said that this is the first project to be done under the guidelines developed between WAMBA and DPaW, and it is something DPaW want for all trails built on their land. It is a rigorous process designed to ensure there are good outputs. And hopefully it doesnt add too much cost or time.... Secondly I should also point out the WA MTB Strategy identifies difficult, gravity focussed tracks as the first priority to be built in WA. DH is the pinnacle of that so I would expect more black tech trails to be built in the near future than flow trails. The guidelines have seven steps, the first four are largely desktop etc so I wont discuss them here. Each step is treated separately. Following this there is: Concept plan - rough areas are identified for the tracks and associated infrastructure. This allows DPaW and other land managers to then ensure theres no issues with building in that area. They dont have to look at a massive area, only that of interest. When this is complete its advertised. Detailed design - I think this is what most of you are really interested in. This is where the actual track is designed, what berms goes where, what jumps goes here. Where exactly the track starts and finishes. Itll be a map. If things go well Murray Valley will be at this stage mid next year. Construction - Where the actual thing gets built finally! The idea is the builder will be following the design and putting the track in. By this point consultation will largely be complete and its just a matter of making it happen. There will have to be some flexibility regarding changes as they come up but I dont know what that will look like yet. Each step is treated entirely separately with a tender for each stage so potentially there could be three groups doing each stage. As its for developing tracks for all riders there will be consultation. I dont know exactly how itll be turn out as it depends a bit on whos doing the work at each step. I imagine when the designer is walking around the hill itd be helpful having strong local knowledge around so I could picture representatives going along with them? It will depend a bit on the designer and how they want to do, as well as DPaW, WAMBA etc. Time is key so as usual feedback through clubs/ WAMBA/ collectives etc is a good idea as its faster and easier than dealing with thousands of individuals. So Id encourage anyone to get involved. I feel like the best time for this is probably after the Concept Plan and before detailed design but I dont know as this is the first time this has been done here. Historically most tracks have been built with something like a concept plan, then going straight to construction and working it out. Whilst I dont think this is a bad way to go at all, this is a new approach that is being trialled and the hope is definitely that it will result in a better outcome. At the end of the day we will probably only know in a couple of years but Im willing to give it all my effort. Lastly, I know I interchange the words track and trail - forgive me! Anyway sorry for the novel, hit me up with any questions.
Posted on: Sat, 29 Nov 2014 02:00:48 +0000
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