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Manly Dam - 1000 riders/week!
according to this press release from Warringah Council the Dam is getting around 1000 riders/week!
Media Release - Upgrade for Manly Dam
Date: Tuesday, December 9, 2014
Release: Major Upgrade for Sydney’s Busiest Mountain Bike Track
A treat for Mountain Bike riders is in store with the completion of a major upgrade of the Manly Dam Mountain Bike Track.
“The Manly Dam track has been working hard, with well over 50,000 uses a year, so it was in need of some loving care” said Warringah Mayor, Michael Regan.
“With these works, we’re confident the track will be able to cope with the increasing demands of riders and still retain its rough and technical character,” he added.
The works, done in consultation with riders, maintain the difficult technical features of the 11k loop while ensuring its longevity. In particular, local sand stone has been used to reduce the erosion that was threatening sections of the track, especially after rain. Drainage has also been improved.
“We pride ourselves in being great supporters of the sport and taking a collaborative approach to ensure the mountain biking community had input,” said the Mayor.
The upgrade was conducted by Trailscapes, a South Australian trail building and maintenance team headed up by Garry Patterson, a longtime and passionate mountain biker himself, with massive experience internationally and domestically in the business of trail building.
Garry Patterson said “Trailscapes have thoroughly enjoyed working on Sydney's most iconic MTB trail, Manly Dam. Since completion of various stages of the upgrade, there have been overwhelming positive responses from the riding community.”
The upgrade works cost $130,000. Council will conduct further works early in 2015 in consultation with local riders.
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Are they talking about Bantry Bay or what were the $130.000 used for? While some work was done to the Dam it most certainly didnt cost that much or am I wrong here? Anyway I appreciate that the council values the Dam as was it is and keeps on improving the trails. The Serrata Track is great and I cant wait for the next one to be open. If someone just stops this rain now please! Oh and opens a coffee shop at the car park please. Thats all I want for Christmas then.
whatever ever cost, It is what it is.
People have to be paid. Businesses are not in it for charity. Perhaps they love their work and it is evident but nothing is cheap in AU.
Very happy with results.
as a rate payer I'm happy with that. Its not as though it is a complete farce like the rebuilding of Corso 8 years back or so.....
I didnt mean to complain mate.
a lot of hard work has been done by a small band of dedicated individuals over an extended period (5yrs+) and mostly but not entirely under the banner of Trailcare (www.trailcare.com.au) to get to where we are now. the MD mtb trail was one part of the recent revisions to the Plan of Management for the park and this involved having IMBA come in and conduct a complete audit of the trail. Many of IMBA’s recommendations were for potential upgrades to the trail including additional single trail to address safety/contention issues with those park users who move a little more sedately than mtb riders. Unfortunately those recommendations were sidelined and so the status quo remains (queue outrage!!). what that means is the trail will exist in its current context unless we lobby for change! so bottom line is a lot of time and money beyond the $130K has been invested in trying to get the right outcomes for both mtb riders and other park users. full credit to WC for making that commitment even if it did stop a little shy of what’s arguably needed to meet the increasing demands. there are a very limited number of legal trails in the Sydney region and riders come from all over Sydney to experience this iconic ride and now that counters have been installed we are getting real numbers that validate the popularity of this trail. SUGGESTION - NEXT TIME YOU'RE OUT FOR A RIDE AND LOVIN' IT MAYBE TAKE A MOMENT AND CONSIDER HOW YOU CAN GIVE SOMETHING BACK?
fortunately Manly Dam is managed by Warringah Council not Manly who closed down the excellent Freedom dirt jumps!! OK so after lots of discussion we got the Grove as an alternative but something got lost in translation between concept and execution .. and as regards the Corso debacle, just one chapter of many from the team that’s responsible for the swim centre catastrophe, latest estimate is that this project has jumped from a mere $15m to now >$21m and lets not talk about the vision for Manly 2015 - more like a vision for massive ratepayer debt. What will the real number be?
for those that are interested..have insomnia, etc..you can download a copy of the Manly Dam POM using this link: http://www.warringah.nsw.gov.au/your-council/pla...
Keep up to date with monthly progress on councils capital works on their website - looks like they $150,000 to spend on the trail renewal works
http://eservices2.warringah.nsw.gov.au/ePlanning...
that's a handy link I hadn't seen before. there's more work programmed for next year including a small re-route around the kids playground at Cootamundra Drive and some changes to the final section of the downhill near the hydro labs. they're also planning to update signage around the entire loop.