After returning home from spending the last two years at Fort Bragg, N.C., it was a wonderful sight to see the improvements in Parkersburg along the downtown, Point Park and surrounding areas. I was particularly happy to see the bike routes (actually marked and designated for bikers!)
I would ask the city continue to build the trails properly, taking the time to ensure they are done correctly. Proper signage and spacing will give our residents the ability to experience the trails and will ensure continual usage and growth for years to come. Connecting the trails throughout the city, along the river and points in between is a great thing for this town and is long overdue.
My personal opinion from riding the routes this weekend is there is a long way to go to ensure proper completion, (trails are very spotty, picking back up a few streets over, etc, a little confusing) but doing it right will provide the community years of healthy riding, walking and running. It would be nice to actually see people enjoying downtown, the river systems, Point Park, etc., instead of empty parking lots.
Hopefully there will be future community "volunteer trail days" or "cleanups." I know there have been a few projects like this in the last year or so. Biking is really growing in the area and Parkersburg, in many ways, has greater potential then many surrounding towns. But it must be done right or it's not worth doing at all.
Aaron Read
Parkersburg
