Updates from Friends of Pathways

All Greater Snow King Area, Munger Mountain, and Teton Pass Area trails are now open and riding well after some much-needed rain last week. There have been several downed trees due to high winds, which the trail ambassadors were able to (mostly) clear this weekend. 

Last week the FS crew worked with a Wilderness Ventures group clearing the Dog Creek to Little Dog Creek loop.

The FOP crew worked on completing two new sections of trail: one at the bottom of Phillips Ridge, with the help of several volunteer groups, and the other a connector trail from the Pine Glades development to Sink or Swim, which trail crews are hoping to call the “Shade Monkey Trail.” This trail was made with a mini excavator that narrowed down to 3 feet wide, providing 2,244’ of shaded single track. Both of these new sections should be finished this week.

The TFR crew has finished some work on the upper Fuzzy Bunny trail including some new road gap jumps.

Crews and volunteers are working hard daily, addressing problem areas first and then moving to trail improvements as needed. Please be patient, send in your observations, and come out and help - Friday AM’s have now moved to the Teton Pass Area (meet at the Stagecoach at 8am).

Possible Old Pass Road Closures
Silver Star Communications began work this week to install fiber optic cable along the Old Pass Road. This work is park of a larger project to install approximately 100 miles of high-speed fiber optic cable to improve connectivity of broadband service across Wyoming. The work along Old Pass Road will help complete a key loop for this project. Heavy equipment will be on Old Pass Road during the project, which is expected to take about two weeks. To ensure public safety, temporary trail closures will be in place where machinery is working. To read the entire press release, click here.

The 2011 Sealcoating project began last week. Crews will be patching asphalt and following up with sealcoating the pathways over the next couple weeks on the following sections: School Pathways between Gregory Lane and Middle School Road, Cottonwood Pathways, Von Gontard Pathway (south of Melody), and the Spring Gulch (JH Golf and Tennis) Pathway. 

Pathways should be open to use during the asphalt patching work, but users should follow instructions from work crews and pay attention to regulatory warning signs. During the sealcoating work, sections of pathway will be closed temporarily.

County Begins Work on South Park Loop Bridges, Road Closure near Melody Ranch
On August 15th, Teton County will begin construction work to replace the existing South Park Loop Road Bridge over Flat Creek near Melody Ranch. This project will require closure of the South Park Loop Road in the vicinity of Melody Ranch for the entire 4-month construction period. Concurrent with the road bridge project, the County will also begin construction of a new pathway bridge over Flat Creek adjacent to South Park Loop Road. The bridges will be operational and South Park Loop Road will re-open by mid-December. To read the complete press release, click here.

As the system sees more use every day – especially with kids out of school and on pathways often - please remember your ‘Respect & Responsibility’ code, and consider the safety and enjoyment of all users. Pathways are mult-directional, multi-use, and walkers, runners, cyclists, rollers, and skaters all have the same rights and responsibilities while using these amenities. Please announce yourself from behind when overtaking other users, yield to the younger and more inexperienced, stay to the right, and always remember to pick up after your dogs! Additionally, please remember that on Town pathways, dogs are required to be on a leash – not just under voice control.’