Samaritan Takes Paint Brush Into His Own Hands But State Parks Officials Don’t Appreciate Unauthorized Safety Stripe On Centennial Trail
Kevin Fletchell says he was only trying to make the Centennial Trail a little safer.
Maybe so, but officials still would have prefered that the 34-year-old South Hill man report his concerns rather than bring a bucket of bright yellow paint and start applying stripes down the middle of the trail.
A ranger saw Fletchell painting the stripes on Monday morning near the Maringo Drive trailhead and ordered him to stop.
“I don’t feel like I did anything wrong,” Fletchell said, explaining his markings were intended to remind users to stay on the right side of the two-way trail. “I just don’t feel like I should get in trouble for this.”
State parks officials, who oversee safety and maintenance along the Centennial Trail, say they haven’t decided how to resolve the situation, but said Fletchell most likely would be asked to clean up his work.
Gary Herron, park manager at Riverside State Park and administrator for Spokane County’s 39-mile stretch of the Centennial Trail, said people concerned about safety or any other trail issue should visit the Friends of the Centennial Trail office rather than heading to the paint store.
“As far as somebody painting their own stripes, that could confuse people and cause more problems,” Herron said.
Fletchell, who regularly rides his bicycle on the trail, said he has seen too many “near misses” on the trail, which is shared by cyclists, in-line skaters, joggers, and families out for an evening stroll.
“It’s just a matter of time before a really bad accident happens,” he said.
Despite those concerns, trail officials say that the number of reported accidents remains quite low, especially considering that well over 100,000 people use the trail every year.
Herron said he could remember only two injury accidents during the last five years.
Most safety concerns have common-sense solutions, trail officials said.
“People need to take responsibility for themselves to stay to the right and obey the trail’s (15 mph) speed limit,” said John Rascoff, president of the Friends of the Centennial Trail.
“The main thing, just like you drive defensively, use the trail defensively.”
xxxx TRAIL RULES A Centennial Trail map, which also contains information about trail rules and etiquette, is available for $1 at Fitness Fanatics, 12425 E. Trent; the REI store at 1125 N. Monroe; and the Friends of the Centennial Trail office, 10 N. Post.