People Powered Speedway
Great Park of Irvine
Irvine, California

 
Orange County needs a park that is dedicated for the use and enjoyment of road bicyclists, BMX bicyclists, skaters and skateboarders. The City of Irvine is in the process of annexing the 4,700 acre El Toro Marine Base, which is located in the heart of Orange County, a county notorious for urban sprawl and traffic congestion. The City intends to set aside 4,000 acres for use as a Great Park and allow private development of the remaining 700 acres. Within the 4,000 acres, the City has tentatively drawn up a "Master Plan" that sets aside about 165 acres for a sports complex.

The designation of land uses within the 165 sports complex remains organic. The Great Park Conservancy (click here for their website http://www.orangecountygreatpark.org/home.htm ) has suggested multiple uses, including the standard soccer, football and baseball fields. The Conservancy has also shown an interest in setting aside acreage for use as cycling/bmx/skateboarding and skating facility. The facility would be called the "People Powered Speedway," the only known non-motorized raceway dedicated for road cycling, skating, skateboarding and bmx cycling in the United States, if not the world.

About one year ago, on August 13, 2002, the Worthington Family Trust proposed the inclusion of the PPS within the Great Park's tentative Master Plan. Click here to see a copy of the letter (also, see below). Roger and Ann Worthington stressed the compelling need for such a facility:

"As Orange County’s population grows, there are fewer and fewer opportunities for bicyclists to ride safely on the streets. Every year we hear of more bicycle- related accidents, some resulting in death. My family and I have lived in Capistrano Beach for over six years and each year we see fewer youngsters riding bicycles. At the same time, we’ve seen an explosion of subdivisions, automobiles, shopping malls, parking lots, toll roads and streets. As congestion increases, where can children go today to learn how to ride bicycles safely, or exercise vigorously? Where can adults go to exercise without worrying about getting struck by a motorist? "

Orange County is famous for its beaches and surfers. It's also famous for it's cyclists. In the recent 2003 Masters National Championships, Orange County racers dominated in several age group categories. In the California State Championships, virtually every gold medalist in every category hails from Orange County. Orange County bike racers have been able to succeed despite the rapidly diminishing opportunities to train and race safely. The PPS would help establish this County's reputation as a cyclists mecca. At the same time, it would provide a safe and friendly venue for cyclists, as well as other athletes, to train and compete in a first class facility.

The Great Park Conservancy, in response, created a comittee to explore the idea of developing a PPS. The comittee included Roger Worthington and Walkie Ray. Worthington hired an architect firm, Hatch Partnership of Austin, Texas to draft the site plans and artistic renderings (see below).

Now that we have drawn up preliminary plans, the next step is designating specific acreage for use as a PPS and of course financing it's construction and maintenance. The plan is to auction off the 700 acres to private developers subject to pre-approved conditions which require the purchasers to fund both the construction and maintenance of the majority of 4,000 acres as public property, which will likely be dedicated to the City. The City will then need to find financing for only specific facilities (such as perhaps, the golf courses).

Before the City considers specific uses within the Great Park, it will first need to develop an overall master plan. Naturally, we'd like the PPS to be looked upon as a worthy land use that would be included among the public swaths of land that will be built and maintained out of the pool of private money.

The question is what can we do now, to put our name in the hat, so the planners include the PPS in the master plan? Will other interests try to preserve a specific use within the sports complex? Will the proponents of the PPS need to compete against the soccer and baseball enthusiasts for precious real estate? The PPS is designed to use only 12.65 acres. As designed, the PPS will need to be situated adjacent to the same parking lot which serves the other playing fields. Optimally, we would also want to be located near bike lanes for easy access. Logically, it makes sense even at the master plan level to consider the allocation of specific uses.

There's no time like the present for advocates of the PPS to encourage the City of Irvine and others to include the PPS concept within the Master Plan.

Please write a letter supporting the PPS to the following officials:


Please Note:  These drawings are "conceptual" in nature -- they represent a possible design for the facility.  The actual design will depend up on the acreage set aside for the facility, the nature of the topography, the available infrastructure, input from stakeholders, and the particulars of how the facility will actually function -- issues such as how  many people will be using the facility, will the facility be fee-for-use operation or open to the public, and how many amenities  (concession, showers, training facility, etc.) will be provided.

As shown in these drawings, the Speedway would consist of a 1/2 mile criterium race course,  an in-line skate park, and a BMX bicycle race course.  In addition to the sport facilities, the Speedway would include grandstands, a concession stand, restrooms, a playscape, multiple viewing opportunities and acres of landscaped grounds for the enjoyment of friends, family and the public.

The Dimensions:

Location:

  • The PPS would be located in the Orange County Great Park. For a map of the proposed Great Park Land Use Plan, please click here [ http://www.orangecountygreatpark.org/theplan.htm ] The Plan has allotted about 165 acres for use as a sports park. The PPS would fit inside that space, along with baseball, soccer and football fields, among other facilities.

Overall:

  • Footprint of entire facility: 12.65 acres (550,836 square feet)
  • Length and width of entire facility: 1,448’ x 368’ (not including the bumped-out area occupied by the grandstands,
    restrooms, vendor area, etc.)
  • Area of landscaped infields (including playscape): 6.49 acres

Bike track:

  • 40’ wide throughout
  • lap length (measured at centerline of track, without the loop up onto the hill): 3,211 feet
  • lap length (measured at centerline of track, taking the loop up the hill): 3,343 feet
  • elevation change at hill: 25 feet
  • radius of curbs at the turns: 20’–0”
  • continuous 12’-wide sidewalk around entire perimeter of track

Skate Park:

  • Area: 36,000 square feet (0.83 acre)
  • Dimensions: 180’ wide by 200’ across
  • BMX Track:
  • Area: 36,000 square feet (0.83 acre)
  • Dimensions: 180’ wide by 200’ across

Playscape:

  • Dimensions: 50’ x 80’

Vendor’s Emporium:

  • Area: 19,264 square feet (0.44 acres)

Dimensions: 222’ x 84’

  • Room for approximately 55 12’x12’ vendor booths/tents

Grandstand Seating:

  • Dimensions: 82’ x 21’
  • Capacity for approximately 490 people

SITE PLAN DETAIL: (click here for larger image)


BUILDING ELEVATION: (click here for larger image)


GRANDSTAND: (click here for larger image)

section_full.jpg (16841 bytes)


SITE PLAN:  (click here for larger image)


August 13, 2002

Carol Simon
The Foundation for the Great Park
1100 Irvine Boulevard, #326
Tustin, CA 92780

Re: Multi-Use, 1.0 Mile, 8 corner, Non-Motor Raceway

Dear Carol:

On behalf of the Worthington Family Trust, I would like to discuss a donation to the proposed Great Park in Irvine to be used for the creation and operation of a multi-use, 1.0 mile, 8 corner non-motor raceway. The raceway would be open to the public and used for recreational and competitive bicycling, scootering, skating and running.

As Orange County’s population grows, there are fewer and fewer opportunities for bicyclists to ride safely on the streets. Every year we hear of more bicycle-related accidents, some resulting in death. My family and I have lived in Capistrano Beach for over six years and each year we see fewer youngsters riding bicycles. At the same time, we’ve seen an explosion of subdivisions, automobiles, shopping malls, parking lots, toll roads and streets. As congestion increases, where can children go today to learn how to ride bicycles safely, or exercise vigorously? Where can adults go to exercise without worrying about getting struck by a motorist?

The Great Park presents a wonderful opportunity to help foster the use of bicycles for recreation, sport and fun. We envision a short, zig-zaggy course with eight turns, covering approximately one mile on less than 20 acres of land. We can build spectator seating and a press box for race officials and the media. The raceway would be open all year round and would be used as a training facility for youngsters and recreational riders, as well as a nationally renown criterium course for professional and amateur racers. The interior of the raceway would be filled with gardens, ponds and warm-up exercise equipment.

I know of hundreds of cycling enthusiasts who have long dreamed of such a raceway. The Worthington Trust would like to help bring this vision to life. We are willing to donate substantial sums to help build a raceway that will provide a safe venue for cyclists, runners and skaters of all ages and abilities to train and compete. There are over 55 million cyclists in the U.S. and cycling is the third most popular sport in terms of participation behind walking and swimming. Everyone it seems owns a bike -- now we need to make sure bike owners have a safe and fun place to train, ride and compete.

We would like to meet with you to discuss this proposal at your convenience.

Sincerely yours,

Roger and Ann Worthington
Trustees of the Worthington Family Trust

 
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