Transportation Scholar

Putting these up for exploring the ITS system at Arches. Writing up a concept of operations/system requirements/cost estimate.

Distance and Destination Map

Cellular Map

Went out and took pictures of existing bicycle infrastructure around Moab and Grand County.

The 128 underpass has some textured plastic paneling which likely prevents graffiti.

It’s spring! Primrose in foreground. Yellow tour bus in background

Also Indian Paintbrush along the Moab Canyon multi-use path.

I’m trying to consolidate 12 years of pullout information for the park and their upcoming (2016) road reconstruction project at Arches.

It’s somewhat painstaking but then the collected data go into GIS where using the previous work recommendations are made in terms of developing or closing areas (and how to close them). These recommendations will be reviewed in a meeting then we’ll send them to Federal Highways.

Since there aren’t very good closure methods that don’t jeopardize motorist safety,where there exist disturbed areas, I’m leaning towards the development of these pullout areas. Hopefully visitors will actually use these and not drive over more plants…sometimes this work makes me really question humanity…

Reasons to not step out of your vehicle while it is still in drive. The car kept going over the curb, it really looks like a Jeep commercial. Please don’t do this in the park, or anywhere really…

With the help of a few park staff (chiefly the group engineer for cost estimates) I wrote up a funding request for building this multi-use path into the Visitor Center.

The funding would come through a Transit In Parks (TRIP) grant. The highway re-authorization bill MAP-21 eliminated this program and this will be the last year that this grant program is available. Rumor has it that the NPS will receive roughly $2 Million of the $14 Million available for federal public lands. We are requesting $161k to complete 1700′ of multi-use path.

A project review is in to connect the existing bicycle path passing by the park with the Arches VC. I’m interested to see how the comments come back. This would be the first step in compliance for a project like this. Finding funding would come a few months later if park staff are accepting of this proposal. Thanks to a free photoshop-type program GIMP, I made a cheesy looking mockup of how the path would enter the VC.

I also put a project in to address potential entrance road modifications to assist with shuttle operations. For this second project it’s more of a brainstorming session, though three options are given from which park staff will voice opinions. One of the frustrating things is that I think this would be a great opportunity for an automated entrance but current fee operations require a booth and for staff to check pass holder’s IDs upon entrance to the park.

I was riding the bicycle and a tire blew taking the rim with it I didn’t know this happened..

There’s a lot of highway surfacing/widening construction going on in Moab on US191.