I walked the property last month.  So as you've seen, the short track is still there, and the Cabarrus County NICA team is maintaining it as our home training facility.

So, we built the west side trails based on the original plan they gave us.  We attempted to route around the features laid out on that master plan.   

Then the master plan changed, about a dozen times.  The new trail between the creek crossings and the soccer fields was wiped out and is now under 20 feet of dirt.  They haven't started construction on the other side of the creek, and the trail is still there as it was the last time we rode it before construction started, but it's grown up and trees are down. 

The issue is that there is no easy access to it because they had blocked off the various pathways to ride a bike across the creek. Culverts and erosion fencing everywhere.  You can kind of get there, but to create a non-hike-a-bike pathway will take a decent amount of work.  Also, rehabbing the existing trail and clearing will take many days of weed whacking and cutting.  A lot of work we had originally put into it has been wiped out, so I have zero confidence that they won't go in and wipe out everything that's left.  With the pandemic and budgetary issues, no one has a clue what the timeline for continuing construction is going to be. There has also been a shakeup with the original P&R leaders, which kind of sets things back to square one.  It's obvious that MTB trails aren't truly part of their plan, and if there are any after construction is completed, it will be built from leftover scraps.

TC Jason Marshall has scoped out possible reroutes to make it rideable again, and I'm sure if someone wanted to volunteer the time to clear it off, he wouldn't say no. You'd have a rideable location that you could trash in the mud while everything else is closed.  For how long, who knows.

I'm directing my time and kid-based manpower in Concord where we have a solid plan and buy-in from the city, and we know our hard work isn't going to fall to a bulldozer any day.

Definitely a bummer, sorry to hear about this situation.

You can see why advocacy to our local governments is so important.  If Harrisburg considered the mtb trail a true recreational asset (like soccer fields, tennis courts, etc.) the town could have been a partner in allocating resources to make sure the local NICA team still had a place to practice.

TrillWill wrote on 12/30/20 at 12:01pm:

Sad thing is they were to begin with.  Seems we've been cast to the wayside.  Might be a good project for you and I to schedule a meeting with TOH P&R and see if we can get some better communication from them.

Mark