Cops & Ambulance on the Trail

No, there wasn’t any crime on the Katy Trail on Wednesday when the DPD bike patrols and the DFD emergency response vehicle made a stop on the Trail near the Cambrick entrance. A woman who was exercising simply fell and cut her chin. She was a little woozy from the fall and needed a few stitches.

Fortunately, the bike patrols were on top of it, as was Bill Williams, the Friends of the Katy Trail’s trail monitor who cruises up and down the Trail in a green golf cart. The woman was quickly and safely taken to a nearby hospital where she was taken care of.

It's Trail Time

Have you looked outside today? It's a nice day. No, scratch that. It's a really nice day. Perfect Trail weather.

If you've been using the excuse that you don't know what the weather is like on the Trail, that excuse has now expired. If you're wondering what the weather is on the Trail, you can check out www.KatyTrailDallas.org to see the current weather conditions.

We just checked the weather. It's sunny and about 60 degrees. Time to get out on the Trail.

Once again – crime doesn’t pay

The man who attacked a fellow cyclist on the Katy Trail last summer with a box cutter was sentenced to 35 years in prison on Thursday. The incident occurred after dark, when the Katy Trail is closed.

To hear how to remain safe on the Trail, and anywhere in Dallas, click here to see a video from the Dallas Morning News.

And remember these safety ABCs … and Ds and Es, too:

Aware – Keep an eye on your surroundings
Buddy – Travel or exercise with a friend
Checkpoints – Know your location at all times
Dark – Don’t use the Trail after then because it’s a City park and is closed
Ears – Keep your music at a low enough volume that you can carry on a conversation with your buddy

Why are there trucks on the Trail?

We know about the trucks on the Trail. It's ok, they're the company doing the installation of the lights. The company is putting in the conduit for all the lighting. We're looking forward to having the Trail lit to Knox Street by May 3. We need your help to fund the remainder of the lighting up to Airline Road, so please donate at www.KatyTrailDallas.org

Watch out for Boy Scouts

One weekend – in either late February or early March – the northern mile of the Katy Trail will be inundated by Boy Scouts. But that’s a good thing.

One of the scouts, Anders Elmgren, is working on his Eagle Scout project and helping out the Friends of the Katy Trail at the same time. Anders is conducting a tree inventory for the Friends in the section of Trail from Armstrong to Airline. Since 2005, the Friends of the Katy Trail has planted dozens of trees in dozens of varieties in the section of trail. While we have architectural plans, we don’t have a complete inventory of everything we’ve planted.

That’s where Anders and his fellow scouts come into play. They’ll be on the trail measuring, categorizing, and plotting every tree in this mile long section. So when you see them one of these weekends, slow down, pass with caution, and thank them for helping us out.

Sunday's Incident Not Related to Trail

Local law enforcement officials are saying there is no connection between the incident Sunday in Highland Park and the Katy Trail.

According to a story Monday on WFAA channel 8, both Dallas and Highland Park police say the attempted robbery and shooting on Sunday in Highland Park is not related in any way to the Katy Trail. Police report a convenience store on Knox Street has been robbed twice in the last two month, and also report numerous burglaries of motor vehicles in nearby parking lots.

"We don't have a crime problem, that I would characterize it as such," Sgt. James McElroy of the Dallas Police Department told channel 8.

Thoughts on Trail Safety

Reasons why police call the Katy Trail “the safest place in Dallas”
1. the sheer number of users makes the Trail a de-facto crime watch
2. the number of incidents on the Trail is lower than almost anywhere in Dallas
3. in a survey of trail users, more than 90 percent said it was safe

The Friends of the Katy Trail is making the trail safer by doing five things:
1. installing lighting
2. installing emergency location signage
3. using membership to pay for off-duty DPD bike patrols to augment scheduled police patrols
4. establishing a Volunteers in Patrols (VIP) program
5. studying safety options under the direction of Safety Chair Rick Anderssen, who is head of the Dallas Police Reserves

Safety tips from the Friends of the Katy Trail:
1. travel with a buddy
2. don’t go on the trail after dark – the trail is a park and is closed
3. keep your iPod volume at a level where you can carry on a conversation with a buddy
4. be alert and aware of your surroundings
5. be aware of your location

Robbery in Highland Park

There was a robbery Sunday at an apartment that backs up to the Katy Trail. It's an unfortunate incident that isn’t really related to the Katy Trail. As a City park, the Katy Trail is closed after dark while many restaurants and bars in the area are open at that time of night.

Safety is an important priority to the Friends of the Katy Trail. We're working on establishing a Volunteers in Patrol (VIP) program, as well a signage plan to identify emergency locations on the Trail. The chair of our Safety Committee is actually the head of Dallas Police Reserves, and he’s working on a plan to make the Trail even safer.

Don’t forget, the Friends use membership contributions to augment DPD patrols by paying for off-duty bike patrols, so we need your help to keep the Trail safe. If you're not a Friend yet, click here to join today.

Drinking Fountain Drainage

What's with the big puddles around the fountains?

Some of you have been asked what's going on with the drainage from the drinking fountains at David's Way and the Victory Overlook. We want to know too, so we are having them inspected by a plumber. The plumber will probably be digging around them to check the drainage in the next week so he can fix them.