Gun Club Road

Based on some recent actions, I think San Angelo’s city leadership is developing a fence building mentality.

It appears the city’s wellness strategy is to “fence’em out and fatten’em up” instead of proactively supporting healthy exercise by tax-paying citizens.

The city has a history of spending tax dollars to build fences that restrict access to areas where people go to exercise.

Several years ago, the city spent our money to put in a dividing fence across the back part of Middle Concho Park, thus making access to the Spillway Hill trails more difficult for cyclists, hikers, and runners.

Areas were also fenced off in Spring Creek Park, the Twin Buttes open space, and at the end of Spillway Road.

Fence’em out and fatten’em up.

The “fence’em out” philosophy came up again during a recent city council meeting when Councilman Fleming and the homeowners around Gun Club Road (KOA loop) proposed building a fence around the Gun Club Road parking area to discourage people from running and walking on that public road.

The area where people park to exercise “is supposed to be designated for wildflowers,” said Fleming.

City Council then directed city staff to develop options for making the wildflower area (“blooming weed patch”) a no-parking zone.

Great wellness strategy –restrict access to a popular fitness venue so that overweight non-exercisers can drive by in their SUVs and look at the blooming weeds.

The Gun Club Road controversy stems from (in most people’s opinion) a few homeowners in that area who don’t want to share the public road with pedestrians and who – in the opinion of some pedestrians – tend to drive in a reckless manner over the posted speed limit.

To be fair to all parties, everyone understands that those homeowners are (rightfully so) infuriated by a few of the walkers and runners who insist on being two or three abreast in the middle of the road instead of staying on the shoulder.

The inconsiderate pedestrians present a problem, but building a fence to protect blooming weeds and restrict access to a popular fitness area is not a reasonable solution.  Instead, the runners and walkers who insist on being in the middle of the road should be cited for violation of section 552.006 of the Texas Transportation Code.

Some city officials and homeowners also cite safety as the reason for curtailing use by non-residents, but the number of vehicle-pedestrian incidents on that road does not appear to support that logic. 

Aubrey deCordova, who walks the Gun Club loop on a regular basis, says “I have gone to the KOA loop for a number of years and I have never heard of an accident involving motorists and pedestrians.  As a matter of fact, I don't recall any accidents there since I have lived here (1968-present).”

Marlon Miller and Nan Shamblen feel the same about safety on the road. 

“I’ve never heard of or witnessed accidents,” Miller notes. “I have seen some close calls with drivers going well above the speed limit.”

Shamblen says her experience with drivers sharing Gun Club Road have been good “except for a few driving too fast.”

“I have been using the KOA road for 40 years and I have never encountered an accident between an automobile and pedestrian.”

There’s also another interesting side-story related to this issue as recently reported in the State of the Division blog (http://stateofthedivision.blogspot.com/2013/10/fleet-equipment-leasings-canals-at-lake.html).

 Based on the blog article, it appears that a developer is planning to build a subdivision along the power plant canal on land directly north of Gun Club Road and south of Red Bluff Road.

If built, this subdivision could add to the traffic load on Gun Club and possibly necessitate widening part of the road (which conceivably could include a bike/pedestrian lane). Given that future possibility, the city might be premature with its plan to fence off the parking area.

There are two simple solutions to the Gun Club issue. The short-term solution is to simply educate runners, walkers, and motorists regarding common-sense courtesy and safety. Pedestrians should stay in single file on the edge of the road facing oncoming traffic, and motorists should obey posted speed limits and share the public road in a careful manner.

A striped “walking shoulder” on the inside of the road would serve as a reminder to pedestrians to stay inside the shoulder line.

The long-term solution would be to make Gun Club a one-way road (clockwise) from the west end of Mesquite Lane to just past the KOA campground.

Re-stripe the one-way portion of the road with a 6-foot wide inner lane for pedestrians, place a separator curb between the pedestrian and motor vehicle lanes, and construct an off-street asphalt path in the “blooming weeds” natural area from Mesquite Lane to just past the KOA.

All pedestrians would travel counter-clockwise in the 6-foot pedestrian lane and all vehicles would travel clockwise on the motor vehicle section.

There is also a third even more healthy solution. Since pedestrians appear to outnumber residents on Gun Club Road, the city could completely close it to all motor vehicles except for access to the blooming weeds parking area.

Residents living in the area would be required to park their cars in the blooming weeds lot and then run or walk to their house. That would solve the problem, and I’m betting the fitness of lake residents would improve dramatically :)

Ride On, San Angelo, and remember – don’t fence’em out to fatten’em up, just let’em run and walk for health. 

Upcoming Events

Oct 30: ASUFit cyclocross series, angelo.edu/asufit

Nov 2: Dinosaur Trail Race, roadlizards.org

Nov 2: 6-hour Dinosaur mountain bike race, sanangelobicycleassociation.com

Nov 9: Concho Valley Paws Hot Dog Run, roadlizards.org

Nov 16: West Texas Masochist Run, roadlizards.org

Nov 23: Turkey Trot 5k, angelo.edu/asufit