You may remember this video that Club President Gretchen Bren did last year to get clubs in the metro area involved with the Trail Marker Project. Keep reading for a report on an update as given at the District Conference July 2021.

For those who are new to this project, as part of Rotary's Centennial in 2005, the Rotary Clubs of Omaha and Council Bluffs came up with a community service project to procure and install mile markers on the trail system. There are 8" markers at the major points, and 5" markers at every 1/10 mile.  Over 100 miles of markers (1,125) were installed, and 25 map board were put in place at the trail system.

What has been done?

 Before we can do anything, we need to know how many are still there. Last year, Rotarians surveyed 15 of the 21 trails with these results:
State of MarkerCount%
Good or OK39555%
No Rotary logo18726%
Completely missing10514.5%
Fair or damaged81%
Could not find/missing243.3%
(yet to be surveyed)40536%
Trails that still need to be surveyed: Parts of West Papio Trail, Keystone South, Iowa West Trailhead, Elmwood Park/Boulevard Trail, Field Club Trail, Big Papio Trail, and 144th Street Trail South. 
 
Use this link to record your progress as you complete the survey.  Record your notes on the page for each trail - there is a link for each trail.  While you can use any phrase to denote the state of the marker, see the above table for the most commonly used notes.  I found it easier to take pictures of each marker as I was walking and then filled in the sheet when I got back.

Map Boards

There are 25 map board at the trailheads. To date, 7 of those have been sanded, repainted, new maps installed are are looking much better.  But there are still even more that need some tender loving care. From our club's experience, it takes 4 people about 3 hours to complete the sanding and painting (Less time if Mark brings his battery operated sander), and then another hour for repainting the letters on the sign the next day.  
 
Use the same link for clubs to 'claim' the Map Boards to care for. 

Next Steps

Contact has already been made with the city and they are very interested in working with us. Next steps will be to get an estimate on the cost of replacement and/or expansion of the markers.  Hopefully one or more District Grants can be used by the clubs.  According to Traillink.com, there are not over 4,100 miles on 64 trails. You can see the trail system using the City of Omaha's map site - mapa.maps.arcgis.com.