Just a note that MRWA posted closed signs because the Declaration of Emergency clearly states that all municipal parks are closed., and ALL Mcintosh Run trailheads and entrance trails are on HRM municipal park land. At Norawarren, In-N-Out is municipal park, and all of Osprey, the Attic, Divide etc is on HRM park too.
That said, HRM seems to be revising it’s policies quickly so that trails are somehow distinct from “parks”. So far MRWA is waiting for a clear statement.
IF HRM does clearly state the trails are opened, they should only be use by local walkers and MTBers of course. And only solo or with someone in your immediate household.
EDIT: The McIntosh Run AT Greenway trail is the Community Trail, which is distinct from the Singletrack.
This is a quote directly from our counselor. This was posted on the Governor’s Brook FB page by the counselor. Seems to be a lot of conflicting info out there.
[Stephen Adams] "The McIntosh Run AT Greenway is open. This sign seems rather suspect. I have asked our staff to verify it. Generally, there would be an HRM or Provincial logo somewhere on it."
Apparently police in the are asking for ID to ensure you are a local of the area. With this being said, I think I will continue to use the trails responsibly with my ID on my person.
The AT Greenway is the Community Trail, ie. the crusher dust trail along the river, not the Singletrack. HRM has definitely re-opened greenway trails for now, but the status of trails in parkland is different.
I’m sure Steve is looking into it and hope we will have definitive answers soon.
Dude…it’s not a loophole, its legitimate confusion. One that my subdivision seems to be confused about and Lawrence just helped clear up.
I’ll play by the rules, but any rationally thinking individual would question how forbidding people to be in a sparsely populated wooded area is better than extra congestion in our subdivisions. Certain closures should be re-evaluated with stipulations on no parking at trailheads and no hiking/biking in groups, otherwise this is a pointless endeavor that will only frustrate already irritable isolationists. Some people can’t seem to follow these simple stipulations and it has affected us all.
As Lawrence said: “HRM seems to be revising it’s policies quickly so that trails are somehow distinct from “parks”. So far MRWA is waiting for a clear statement.”
I’m not trying to be combative, but silly carte blanche closures isn’t the solution. So I will keep digging and trying to get clarity from HRM on these points and hopefully we can ride these trails soon (abiding by distancing protocols of course).
just my two cents. But the admins can shut me up if they wish.
Your post should have ended at “I’ll play by the rules”. You opinion on how ridiculous a set of rules are, is irrelevant.
Do you know how long it took and the effort that went into Lawrence and his group to get this land approved for trail building and to get these world class trails built? Don’t fuck it up for the rest of us because you NEED to ride. We all NEED to ride
In the interest of playing by the rules, and to respect Lawrence and his team’s efforts, I will be staying off the trails.
In the interest of having some discussion about trail closure confusion and the efficacy and logic behind said closures, this seems to be the wrong forum to use so long as people like you are around.
Thank you @kerrmitc. That is all we want and in everyone’s best interest.
As far as “people like me around” are concerned you should probably chill out on that. My contributions to the community and to the MRWA trail system, and other systems in the area, are very well known by most on here. I didn’t just join here 20 hours ago
This discussion board has always been a very positive place and we need to keep it that way. DM me if you want to discuss further in private
@kerrmitc is correct that there is legitimate confusion, given that different rules apply to different trails (depending on land ownership etc) and everything is changing so quickly. HRM has 900 park properties and I have great respect for them – imagine how crazy it is for HRM staff to stay on top of it too.
And @muddy, you are indeed a superstar of trail support, and I respect that you always have the best interests of the trails in your comments.
As a personal comment (nothing to do with MRWA)**: My own view is that these confusions don’t matter much. We all should have been locked in our houses 3 or 4 weeks ago, other than food, water and health care. With a contagion like this, and with our limited testing frequency and testing strategy (ie. only those with symptoms), the best way to get through this quickly and with minimal costs to lives, the economy and society, is to freeze everyone in place, let the now-confined clusters of infections erupt, and then test, test, test with a strategy based on the fact that most transmission is by people who are asymptomatic.
Unfortunately, I guess, confining people and shutting down businesses is politically difficult (impossible?) at the early stages of a contagion when it is most effective. Maybe next time…
CHeers all
L
**most of you may know me as someone who splits rocks and rides a bike, but I do have a ‘real career’ which has in the past involved numerical models of contagions. I’m no epidemiologist though.
That sounds similar to what South Korea did, which seems to be working well for them. Or seems infinitely better than constant changes and confusion. Can’t wait to get back out on the MRWA trails, both riding and building.
Korea got their testing and tracing together so quickly, they pretty much skipped the need for a widespread lockdown it seems. China got behind the spread (understandable, they were first) and did the lockdown admirably… (much better at that than we are I guess…). Hence their deaths/million is lower than ours.
I have an old email to my MP titled “why aren’t you locking me up?!”. Trash bin??
Anyway, I remain optimistic and look forward to seeing all on the singletrack later this season.
This. So many times this. I can’t agree more. It was a difficult bullet to bite but we should all by now be at acceptance with this and stick to our own neighborhoods, no driving out to this place or that place because it’s unsanctioned/unknown, and just ride this out (pun intended) at home.
Thank you all for social distancing, self isolating, staying home unless for essentials, and I can’t wait to see you all on some trails!
We locked ourselves in pretty much the minute the kids finished school on the 13th. It just seemed like the right thing to do. We stay in the subdivision and just walk and bike around. I have a 6km loop that I take the dog round so plenty of exercise.
One kid came out with me to buy some essentials on the 14th but walked around touching everything so never again. My wife and another had to go to the IWK for a covid-19 test the other day (they both have a low grade fever that’s stubbornly hung around for 2 weeks) but that’s their only trip out. At least we know the we didn’t have the virus before the went in!
It sucks to have spare time and not be riding, but that’s been my whole year! I haven’t worked for 11 months and in that time had bikes on a ship, a cracked rib, snow and ice and now this!
It certainly is a new experience for all of us and we are each going to live it differently.
You never realize how much you miss something till you can no longer have it,
has never been more true than now.
And It looks like the worst is yet to come.
We should feel fortunate that we still have the opportunity to go outside as of now. There are parts of the world in total lock down and others which have banned recreational activities including biking. The trails aren’t going anywhere folks, they will still be there when this is over. The real question is will all of us still be here if we don’t all do our part and follow the guidelines.
Anyone know what the deal is with McDonald Sports Park? As far as I’m aware it is not a Provincial or Municipal Park and it is within biking/walking distance to me. Would be nice to get out to a place for some exercise other than walking the same streets over and over again in my neighborhood.
