City Shuts Down - BMX Bike Park
geneb
Lewiston, Idaho -- 05/14/2009
City shuts down teens makeshift bike park.
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More than two dozen teens learned you can't fight city hall
after authorities banned them from a BMX bike park the
teens took months to build.
Officials say a makeshift park of dirt trails and ramps will be
off-limits after discovering the site and say they are concerned
about possible pesticide exposure and dangerous material in
the area of Bryden Canyon.
"You can see old tires, you can see metal sticking out," said
Chris Davies, Public Works Director in Lewiston. "I mean,
there's all sorts of things. It was a landfill."
The land the teens used was an abandoned landfill paved over
in the mid 1990's. An environmental impact study suggested
construction crews building Bryden Road should limit exposure
to dust in the area because of possible pesticide contamination
in the landfill.
Davies says the risk of pesticide exposure is "very, very low."
Even for teens that spent months building ramps here, but he
says it is part of the reason the City decided to mark the site
off limits.
"We understand, it's just there's nowhere else to go," said
16-year-old Tyler Ambrose. "This is the only place to ride
in town."
The only other BMX park the teens know about is in Moscow,
miles away and too far to ride to after school.
More than two dozen teens spent hours after school
building the network of trails that run adjacent to the road.
Davies said the City is willing to meet with the teens and hopes
local businesses would be willing to help build the group a more
suitable park.
City officials have asked police officers to monitor the site
for bike riders while crews install no trespassing signs.
Geneb...Wenatchee,Washington-USA
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