A Donaldson Park volunteer says walking trail damage issues appear to have been reduced thanks to some preventive measures taken by Celina officials.
Jason Upton said most of the trail damage was caused by unauthorized motor vehicles using the trail late at night. Upton said he credits Celina’s Police Department for increasing patrols around the park.
“I recognize it now more than I have in the past,” Upton said. “The patrolling has increased. I can say with all confidence, I don’t believe that there’s any vehicle driving on this trail at this time.”
Upton said there is still a possibility that some people are driving smaller motorized vehicles on the trail. Upton said he still thinks the city should take further preventative measures.
“The one suggestion that I made was that we could go back to locking the gate at the entrance,” Upton said. “Now, that was a long-time method that was used years ago for most of my life, it was locked, I think it was locked at 10:30pm or 11pm at night, a city police man would lock the gate after making sure nobody was in there. Then, in the mornings, they would reopen it at a particular time. I made that suggestion, and it is still on the table, and I hope to bring that up. I like that suggestion best because it works for sure.”
Upton said gravel was purchased and was used to repair some of the damage to the trails. Upton said there are still more repairs that need to be done.
“There is still some work to be done in a particular curve of the trail where the trucks had wallared out, so to speak, a mud hole,” Upton said. “There is still some water gathering in that area, and the city is still gonna work on repairing that to where the water will drain out of that curve.”
Upton said it is great to see the city take initiative in taking care of the walking trails at the park. Upton said the walking trails are what people use the most at the park.