New Mountain Bike Trails Should Not Be Added in Brightwood Park - Here's Why
There is a proposal before the Westfield Recreation Commission by JORBA (Jersey Off Road Biking Association) to add mountain biking trails to Brightwood Nature Preserve.
Many people have written letters to the mayor, council and local media in opposition - here is a sample.
The Friends of Brightwood Park oppose this proposal for the following reasons:
Many people have written letters to the mayor, council and local media in opposition - here is a sample.
The Friends of Brightwood Park oppose this proposal for the following reasons:
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Westfield wants walking and hiking trails, not Mountain Biking
The town survey done in 2019 has detailed information about what facilities residents are looking for. Natural Area and Natural Parks were 4 times more important to Westfielders than Mountain Biking. See more at the Town Survey Review |
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Mountain Biking is incompatible with a natural park.
It destroys forest ecosystem, imperils native flora and trees and makes the problem of invasive species worse. See about the vision for Brightwood Park, invasive species at Brightwood Park and the Rahway River Stewarship for Brightwood Report. Here is also a thoughtful and thorough Review of the Ecological Effect of Mountain Biking. Other communities agree: see Mountain Bikes Don't Belong In Natural Areas. (Sign at left is from South Mountain Reservation.) |
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Mountain Biking is a Speed Sport
Mountain bike racing is already taking place in Brightwood. These are images from a Leaderboard website, a place where people can post mountain biking trails and their best time to complete them. Competitive biking continues at Brightwood with leading average speeds of 17 MPH. An average speed of 17 miles per hour implies a top speed well in excess of that. These actions will drive walkers and hikers out of the park - it's just too dangerous to co-exist on these trails. See more about Mountain Biking Racing, current races at Brightwood and the effects of mountain biking on trails |
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Brightwood park is too small to add additional trails - it is already intensively used for a natural area
Union County studied the idea of adding mountain biking to Watchung Reservation and concluded that it was already too intensively used, with 2100 acres and 45 miles of trail, for mountain biking. Brightwood Park has only 44 acres and 1.7 miles of trails - almost twice as heavily used as Watchung Reservation. See the reasons that Union County declined to allow Mountain Biking in Watchung Reservation Also see Mountain Bikes Don't Belong in Natural Areas |