Alta is a proud sponsor of the upcoming International Trails Symposium in Portland, Oregon. We hope you will join us for four days of fun! Find us at our booth, and at the following sessions.
Trails in Tight Places
Join us for an informal discussion and exchange of ideas about building trails in difficult locations. Topics will include securing right-of-way, finding win-win solutions with challenging property owners (including utility companies and railroads), working within and around environmentally-sensitive areas, and challenging topography.
Presenter: George Hudson, Principal-in-Charge and Landscape Architect, Alta Planning + Design
You Can Get There: Trail Wayfinding Within and Beyond the Standards
Wayfinding systems are essential tools of complete and effective regional trails and trail networks. Wayfinding information clarifies routes and helps users comfortably reach their destinations. The provision of navigational elements enhances trail awareness, economic investment, and environmental benefits, all while contributing to community pride. This session will focus on wayfinding best practices for shared-use pathways including regional trails. Guide signage for shared-use paths requires that federal standards within the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices”(MUTCD) are adhered to.
Numerous municipalities are however pushing the boundaries of the technical requirements in order to achieve effective wayfinding systems that include local community character. Specific examples of how communities are working within and beyond the MUTCD to achieve compelling wayfinding systems that reflect local values and character will be shared. Topics to be described include wayfinding components and design features, placement planning, destination prioritization, and tools for working with stakeholders.
Presenters: Karen Vitkay, Associate Landscape Architect, Alta”Planning + Design; Alex Oreschak, Transportation Planner II, Maricopa Association of Governments, Arizona
Big and Bold: Keys to Success for Mega Trails
Even during a time of national economic slowdown, several mega trail projects have come to fruition across the country. Successful mega trails require community and political support, creative fundraising techniques, and high standards of pathway design. This presentation will feature three trail projects that incorporate these characteristics: the 50-mile CV Link in Coachella Valley, California, the 36-mile northwestern Arkansas Razorback Regional Greenway, and the 22-mile Wolf River Greenway in Memphis, Tennessee.
Presenters: Charles Flink, Senior Advisor; George Hudson, Principal-in-Charge; Karen Vitkay, Associate Landscape Architect, Alta Planning + Design
Trail Doctor: What ails your trail?
The Trail Doctor is available to help cure the most common trail problems. The Doctor is in town and will be available to see you and your group. Doctor Flink (AKA Chuck Flink, FASLA) has more than 32 years of experience treating both simple and complex problems. Are you challenged by difficult adjacent property owners, are local regulators giving you heartburn, or is there a particular design problem that is causing you to lose sleep? Bring your problems to the Trail Doctor for someone-on-one consultation. Dr. Flink’s consultation is free of charge (only during this limited time offer) and with no strings attached.
Presenter: Chuck Flink, Senior Advisor, Alta Planning + Design
Trails and Agriculture: Bridging Productive and Recreational Landscape
Trails built through areas of active crop production pose a specific series of anticipated and actual challenges, which when addressed with tested management and design strategies, can lead to a popular and well-used trail system. A national survey of built trails in agricultural settings will be presented, along with a discussion of methods used to encourage harmony between trail users, trail managers, and adjacent farmers. Attendees will learn strategies to build support for trails in agricultural settings, and design techniques to mitigate potential conflict between adjacent land uses. Participants will be encouraged to share their own examples of trails adjacent to agricultural lands, their approaches to address concerns, and project outcomes.
Presenters: Berry Bergman, Manager of Trail Development – Western Region, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy; James Powell, Senior Designer, Alta Planning + Design
Tribal Lands and Community Connections: Working Together
Tribal areas often have high levels of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and other health issues, and often have limited bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure. This session will examine four case studies (City of Palm Springs, Vallejo, and Round Valley in California, and Pueblo of Laguna in New Mexico) of planning and design projects for trails and pedestrian and bicycle connections for Western Native American Tribes. It will show the unique challenges and solutions associated with coordination between Tribal governments and local governments, highlight the unique settings, needs, goals, challenges, and approaches to providing safe, enjoyable alternatives to the automobile, and display the great efforts and accomplishments of Tribal governments in these specified areas.
Presenters: Randy Anderson, Landscape Architect; Mike Rose, Landscape Architect, Alta Planning + Design