BMXers Booted From Skate Park
geneb
Post Falls, Idaho -- 05/16/2009
http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/6917/05162009a.jpg
Photo - Danny Rodgers, 15, performs a trick while skating
at the Post Falls skate park as Adam Prince watches in the
background Thursday.
Duane Sorenson has watched the battles boil over
between bikers and boarders at Millennium Skate Park.
It's gotten to where fist fights have erupted, the skateboarder
said, after boarders and freestyle bikers bump into each other
at the park.
"The boards will ram into their rims because there's only so
much room," Sorenson said. "We're here to skate because
it's a skate park."
Police are through with playing referee and, as of Monday,
the city is cracking down on bikers who enter the park.
The entrance will be narrowed, making it more difficult
to get a bike in, and more warning signs will be posted.
Police Lt. Greg McLean said first-time violators will be warned
and removed from the park. Repeat offenders may be banned
from re-entering the park.
It has always been recommended that bikers stay out of the
park and there's limited signage to that effect, but the rule
hasn't been strictly enforced, McLean said.
"Our point is to not hammer the kids or the bikers, but to make
the park safe and fun," McLean said. "It's not a safe atmosphere.
"When parents ask bikers to leave, they sometimes get mouthy
attitude back. It's just better to cut it off before it gets totally out
of hand."
Police have seen the conflicts via the cameras at the park.
"You'll see some close calls, then there will be a collision with
both falling to the ground," he said. "In one case, a bicyclist
punched a skateboarder in the face."
McLean and Sorenson said not all bicyclists are a problem,
but the park was built for skateboarders. Boarders even tossed
in funding for the park. But, with no bike park in Post Falls, bikers
have increased at the park.
"I like the good bikers," skateboarder George Pfeifer said.
"It's just that the little kids (on bikes) get in the way."
Tanner Brady was among those riding his bike at the park recently.
"There's no other place to go, and my mom can't always take me
to Coeur d'Alene," he said. "There should also be a bike park."
The City Council on Tuesday will consider sites for a future BMX park,
including near the wastewater treatment plant, along Spokane Street
south of the cemetery and north of the water tower and on state
property adjacent to Interstate 90 where Chase Road intersects
with Seltice Way. The council already approved the concept of
having such a park in Post Falls.
It's unclear how much a BMX park would solve the bike problem at
the skate park because racing is different from freestyle and stunts.
"The BMX park being discussed may help this issue for some,
but you are really looking at a paved area for those bikers who
want to do free style," said Dave Fair, parks and recreation director.
"The city would consider a skateboard-type park designed for bikers
along with many other specialty parks, but it all depends on available
land, location, funds, community support ... We can do anything; we
just can't afford everything."
Sorenson said he wonders how much the new
enforcement keeping bikers out of the skate park will help.
"Good bikers will still come," he said. "They'll throw their
bikes over the fence. You're not going to stop them."
Geneb...Wenatchee,Washington-USA
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