Bike Path Extension
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Path up old road grade
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View looking up hill
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Rec Board submits project to extend Bike Path
by Dawn Ballou
July 6, 2004
The Sublette County Recreation Board has submitted applications to the Wyoming Department of Transportation to extend the Pinedale Bike Path on both ends. Currently, the Bike Path begins on the hill near the Pinedale Cemetery and ends at the CCC Pond parking lot. The Recreation Board would like to see the path extended to begin at the base of the hill near the new Senior Citizen building and at the upper end to connect up with the paved Forest Service Road #111 at the lower end of Fremont Lake.
The 3.5 mile Bike/Pedestrian Path was completed in 2002 and is extensively used by bike riders, walkers and joggers. The path is also used by roller-bladers, people in wheelchairs, families with baby strollers, pedestrian commuters to the Clinic and Museum of the Mountain Man, and cross-country skiers. Motorized vehicles and horses are not permitted on the path.
With the expansion, benches would be placed at the start of the Path to offer a meeting spot for exercise pals and also at the top of the steep grade by the cemetery. The extension follows an existing abandoned road grade along the hill. A motion-activated Cross Alert System crosswalk facility is proposed between the bike Path and the Town softball park to facilitate non-motorized access to the park and reduce safety hazards. Cost to design and construct the Path extension to the base of the hill is estimated at $373,890, which includes a $74,778 local cash match. All necessary rights-of-way have been secured for the project.
The proposed upper project would extend the Path approximately 2000 feet from the CCC Pond parking lot to the paved road (FS Rd 111) which accesses Lakeside Lodge and west to the Fremont Lake lower boat ramp. Both proposed extensions would follow suit with the 8-foot width and asphalt paving. Cost to extend the upper segment is estimated to be $197,185, including a $39,437 local cash match. The project is being managed by Rio Verde Engineering in Pinedale. Contact person for the Bike Path project is Dave Bell, Chairman of the Sublette County Recreation Board.
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