Bike-jump park looks doubtful

But city officials won't build the park because the fast speed the BMX bikes reach and the height they jump add up to a liability risk.

That means the kids and their parents might have to turn to a private company to build the bike-jump park, which has its own set of obstacles.

East Side resident Pamm Pope first approached Ward 2 Councilwoman Carol West with the idea of building a bike-jump park last November.

"My son and these guys have no place to ride on the East Side," she said.

West took the idea to the Parks and Recreation Department, met with the bike enthusiasts and cooked up some ideas for the design of the park.

Ward 2's bike-jump park never got past the discussion stages.

The city previously considered putting a bike-jump park farther south at Lincoln Regional Park, near Escalante and Pantano roads. But the speed and height the bikes could reach posed a severe risk for head, neck and spinal injuries, said city Risk Manager Joel Peterson.

City officials found the project uninsurable. The city could have self-insured the project, but then taxpayers would have carried the entire financial burden in the event of a lawsuit.

"I don't think this should be saddled on the back of the taxpayers," Peterson said.

And the wear and tear BMX — or bicycle motocross — bikes can cause on a course made of dirt leads to a significant cost for maintenance. One built from concrete could increase the severity of injury, Peterson said.

In a letter dated Feb. 7, West informed the families interested in getting a bike park that the city would not build it because of the potential for serious injury.

Damian Perry, the assistant manager at Broadway Bicycles, said every day kids and their parents come into the bike shop at 140 S. Sarnoff Drive and ask if the city can build a bike-jump park.

Not having a bike park means they engage in risky behavior on city or private property, he said.

"The risks they're taking out on the street are tenfold to what it would be in a controlled environment," he said.

Pamm Pope's son, Colten, said while he'd been hopeful the city might build the park, he wasn't surprised when he found out it wasn't going to do it.

He and his friends were disappointed with the decision.

"We have to find stuff to ride on, and we have to worry about getting arrested for riding on private property," he said.

Colten Pope, 16, and his friends have built a 12-foot wide ramp at his home's driveway. Riders from throughout his neighborhood gather to do jumps and tricks on the ramp.

Another rider, 15-year-old Ryan Tinkham, said he doesn't understand why the city will build skate parks but not bike parks.

"It feels like they're kind of discriminating against us because we have bikes," Tinkham said.

Peterson said skateboarders cannot reach the same speed or height as kids doing tricks on bikes, so there's less chance of severe injury.

If such an injury at a BMX bike-jump park were to occur, it would be "very expensive to the city and very tragic to the community," Peterson said.

Colten Pope and his friends said they don't think they're taking too big a risk when they ride because they know their own limits. Still, the riders know several kids who have been injured while riding.

Sixteen-year-old Tommy Hutz said the riders only want a place where they can ride without getting in trouble.

His mother, Tamara Keehl, an independent construction manager, said she's talked with developers about building a bike-jump park. But developers would build such a park only if the property would turn a profit and if the kids sign a liability waiver.

She said convincing a developer to build the project would take research that shows there's local interest, and that it would get enough use to add up to "dollars and cents."

"The risks they're taking out on the street are tenfold to what it would be in a controlled environment."

Damian Perry

Assistant manager at Broadway Bicycles