Dirt bike enthusiasts took their rides to the city’s newly reopened Buckman Track on Friday afternoon—but they weren’t joined by ATV riders, many of whom had pitched in to help improve the park.
The 55-acre park, just west of N.M. 599, was closed for more than a year because of safety concerns, and it finally reopened this week, with a new ban on ATVs.
The track will be open to the public Friday through Sunday, from 8 a.m. to dusk. Monday through Thursday, the track will be closed for maintenance.
While some riders were happy to get back on the track, others were shocked by the city’s decision to prohibit ATVs—four-wheeled all-terrain vehicles.
Dirt bike and ATV enthusiasts had been developing the track for decades. Jonathan Pacheco, 36, was among them. He’d been riding ATVs at the site since he was a boy, he said, and when he heard about the new ban on ATVs, he was outraged.
“It’s frustrating,” Pacheco said, “because we’ve been riding there for years. I was trying to find a place to keep my kids busy and away from the streets.”
Pacheco said he was glad to see the city complete the improvement project, but now he’s feeling deceived.
“We look at the track as a source to stay out of trouble because there’s not a lot to do in Santa Fe,” he said. “Now they’re basically telling us we can’t be there.”
Gabriel Ortiz, 34, said he didn’t understand the decision. “We’re all just waiting and waiting for the track to open, and then they come out with this,” he said. “It’s like they did it real slick and now they’re only allowing certain riders.”
In 2012, the city held a grand opening to celebrate $450,000 worth of improvements to the track, including an access road, a parking lot and a perimeter fence. But then the city closed the track in 2013 because of concerns raised by the city’s insurance company.
Ben Gurule, director of the city’s Parks and Watershed Division, said Great Outdoors Consultants, the company hired by the city to address the safety concerns, had recommended ATVs be banned because of risk.
“It’s unfortunate,” he said. “I wish we could accommodate everybody.”
Gurule said once the decision was made to prohibit ATVs, the message was relayed to the motocross and ATV community.
Daniel Coriz, 34, a dirt bike enthusiast who helped out with the recent modifications, said he raised his objection to city officials and pointed out that ATV riders also had worked on the recent improvements.
“It’s hard not to see [ATV] riders riding the track along with us,” he said.
Among the latest improvements are a spectator area and fencing that keeps various lines from intersecting.
Coriz said the track is flatter than it used to be, which could turn out to be more dangerous because it allows for faster speeds. In the past, the track had more obstacles, he said, which forced people to ride more slowly. But those obstacles have been reduced.
“They took out one risk and added a different risk,” Coriz said.
Adam Villegas, a 21-year-old ATV rider, said he believes the decision to prohibit ATVs is wrong. “I don’t think it’s any more or less dangerous than just having dirt bikes out there,” he said.
Villegas had volunteered to work on the 2012 modifications.
“I was stoked that it was going to reopen,” he said, “and now that I’m finding out that there’s no ATVs allowed, it upsets me quite a bit.”
Contact Uriel J. Garcia at 986-3062 or ugarcia@sfnewmexican.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ujohnnyg.
