New Bike Park Opens As Part Of Redevelopment Plan For Ogden’s West Side
Oct 6, 2020, 10:05 PM | Updated: Oct 7, 2020, 6:53 am
OGDEN, Utah – Ogden city officials gave residents a fun reason to head to the west side of town with a new bike park, part of a plan to beautify and redevelop an area that had become rundown over the past 40 years.
I squashed my gigantic head into this XL bike helmet today. Also, TONIGHT AT SIX, on @KSL5TV: pic.twitter.com/3UAYZEqYK6
— Mike Anderson (@mikeandersonKSL) October 6, 2020
The new park is one of the first areas to be cleaned up.
The Trackline Bike Park includes a technical area and a one-mile loop through the woods.
You don’t have to be a professional, but a little experience might help get around the area.
The Trackline Bike Park has a technical area. (KSL-TV)
Merlin Deschamps said he enjoyed his first go around.
“It’s a fun little ride. It’s not really difficult, a little technical in a couple of spots, but it’s really not bad. It’s really a pretty fun ride, to be honest with you,” he said.
That’s what Ogden city planners had in mind — a place for people of all skill levels to pedal around and enjoy some time on the west side of town.
Merlin Deschamps enjoyed his spin around the bike park. (KSL-TV)
Tom Christopulos, director of community and economic development said, “We wanted to start enhancing the image of west Ogden, and so this was the place we decided to start, and then we’ll continually work from Exchange Place and work west.”
The park is part of a plan to develop the area over the next five to 10 years.
Christopulos said it’s a chance to clean up the area and give people a reason to visit.
“We had a lot of environmental clean up that needed to be done. We had to reconstitute the river over time,” he said.
Tom Christopulos, Ogden director of community and economic development, talks about the extensive cleanup that had to be done in the area. (KSL-TV)
Deschamps called it a good change.
“This area here was the old stockyards, and it sat vacant for years and years, and then Smith & Edwards had that building there that they finally tore down,” Deschamps said.
He was checking it out for his son and grandchildren. He’ll be back.
“It’s fun. I’ll do it a number of times when I come out here. I’ll ride this and just have a good time,” he said.
The 17-acre area also serves as a flood buffer for nearby businesses.
Organizers will expand the trails as the area is developed.
