Official seeks to limit bikes at Mianus River Park

By Louis Porter
October 5, 2002

STAMFORD -- The  rutted  trails and eroded stream banks with protruding tree roots in Mianus River Park have for years been a source of contention, particularly between hikers and mountain bikers.

Now city officials are asking the National Park Service to help them figure out a way for everybody to use the park in peace. If so, a group of park users will be brought together to address the problems over the next year.

City Rep. Brian O'Neill, D-10th District, has been walking in the park for a quarter-century and was the driving force behind the city's request for inclusion in the National Park Service's Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program.

"In that time period, I have seen a lot of new trails being formed within the park close to the river, many of which have caused degradation," O'Neill said.

Mountain bikers are not the only ones responsible for the damage, he said. He has suggested the Stamford Parks and Recreation Commission consider a restriction on bike riding in the park within 24 hours after rainfall.

This year has been particularly bad for the park, O'Neill said. A spring drought left the ground hard and weakened vegetation. Then summer rain washed soil away, exposing tree roots. Bike riders do the most damage after rains because they swerve around puddles, widening trails, park users said.

"The erosion is terrible and we would like to keep the trails rideable," said Jennifer Larsen, a Stamford mountain biker who was preparing for a trip into the park recently.

She doesn't ride after rain, Larsen said, but some bikers are not so careful and slip and slide on the trails, damaging them.

Other bikers disagreed with Larsen.

"If a few trees die, it will keep this many people healthy," Curtis Terzis of Stamford said this week as he rested at the head of a trail. "Half the fun of mountain biking is the rain, getting muddy and dirty. That's what it's here for, to enjoy."

But bikers and other visitors may be enjoying the park to death.

"The recreational use is really degrading the landscape, especially along the river," said John Monroe, outdoor recreation planner for the National Park Service. "The land is getting worn down by people."

Until federal budgets are complete, it is not definite that Mianus River Park will be included in next year's program, Monroe said.

"The Iraq situation is a whole lot more interesting to Congress than these budgets," Monroe said, but there is a good chance Mianus River Park will be on the list.

"It's a good request and it's an interesting project," he said.

Mianus River Park, portions of which are owned by Stamford, Greenwich and the state, is "a look into the future," Monroe said. It is the one wild spot of any appreciable size in the area, and will be used more and more as the region's population grows, he said.

Mianus River Park could be one of a half-dozen projects in Connecticut on which he works next year, but it will not mean any money for the city, Monroe said. It would mean that he will meet regularly with members of the groups that use the park, Monroe said.

"We don't have any cash to give people," he said. "We help groups figure out how to get organized."

Mountain bikers agree that some damage to the park is caused by bikes.

"The trails are degrading, the stream banks are eroding, there is braiding of the trails (and) loss of vegetation, and everybody is saying the bikers are doing it," said John Turchi, president of the Connecticut chapter of the New England Mountain Bike Association.

If the National Park Service convenes a group, he will work with them to seek answers to the issues facing the park, he said.

"I've pledged support to these guys," Turchi said.

Bikers want to maintain the park, he said.

"We always advocate sensitive riding and consideration of conditions," Turchi said.

There was a move about five years ago to restrict bicyclists in the park. It was defeated. But there was a push to get people to work together to repair and maintain the park.

"It seemed to sort of fizzle away," Turchi said.