Mcdowell Mountain Regional Park To Host Public Meeting For Potential Bike Park

McDowell Mountain Regional Park invites the community to a public meeting from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, November 2, 2023. The meeting will occur at the Fountain Hills Community Center at 13001 N. La Montana Drive in Fountain Hills, Arizona.

"With mountain bikers from all over the nation flocking to the park to utilize the trails and participate in events, I'm happy to see that we're looking to enhance the services we're providing to the community," said Maricopa County Supervisor Thomas Galvin, District 2. "Over the past year, our Parks and Recreation staff have worked closely with facility and engineering designers and stakeholders to develop a new bike park design for the Four Peaks and Competitive Track areas. The team is now at the point where they'd like to share the design concepts with the public and hear their thoughts."

"Prior to sitting down with the design team, our team released a public survey to determine the level of interest in the project and which features the community would like to see at the bike park. During the 30-day public comment process, more than 550 individuals provided feedback, so we had some good data to work with," stated RJ Cardin, Maricopa County Parks and Recreation Director.

The proposed area for the project utilizes the existing event footprint with additional amenities. The concept includes -

• Skills Area: This area may consist of a number of manufactured obstacles.

• Pump Track Area: The team is considering two pump tracks for this area. One may be more of a traditional-style pump track with different roller combos, while the other may focus more on jumps. The tracks will be positioned to allow the rider to flow from one track to the other or ride each track independently.

• Jump Lines / Flow Trails: Riders will cruise up a gradual hill and gain speed as they descend. The track includes progressive jump lines and finishes with a flow trail section at the bottom with a mix of berms and jumps. The area is slated to connect to two separate parking areas and has plenty of room for seating.

• Event Space: The event space has been configured to include pedestrian walkways, more than 300 parking spaces, including ADA spots, a warm-up loop, spectator areas, and a pick-up/drop-off zone.

For those unable to attend the meeting, a design concept and public comment form will be posted at bit.ly/MMPublicMtgComments. The deadline to provide feedback on the project is December 1, 2023.