MURRAY, Utah — For about a year, a man living in Murray’s been avoiding bike riding on the Murray section of the Jordan River Parkway Trail.
The reason?
Cracks in the asphalt sometimes as wide as four inches and as deep as an inch and a half throughout many different parts of the trail.
WATCH | Concerns over large cracks in Murray Trail to be resolved by end of fall
"Recently these cracks have developed, and it's very difficult and uncomfortable to ride this trail now because these cracks are so wide,” said Rand Woodward, who lives in Murray.
Woodward's been biking on the Jordan River Trail for more than a decade, but he stopped a year ago after noticing these cracks in the trail. They were too wide and deep for his bike’s tires.
That’s why a few weeks ago he emailed Fox13 asking us to look into the cracks because he's tired of riding his bike on the busy 4800 S.
"It's been dangerous to ride out there on 48 S, I usually go from E Murray down 48 S all the way to Redwood Road and back and I don't like doing it because of the traffic,” said Woodward.
Part of the reason these cracks have formed is due to weather.
"Typically, summer times, those cracks will open up a little bit more, and then we'll have the freezes and thaws in the winter months and spring months that bring destruction or degradation of those paths and stuff,” said Jeff Martin, the Murray City Parks and Recreation director.
It's why back in July, the Parks Department started to work on sealing some of the smaller cracks.
"They'll last between 5-6, 7 years, something like that typically. Some will open up in the course of that, and we just kind of assess them when they come up and take care of them when they're a problem,” said Martin.
However, the larger cracks can only be fixed by removing the road and placing new asphalt, which the street department usually helps with when they're not focused on city roads.
"Some of our portions right now are getting touched up this fall, and we're hoping to get them all done by the end of this fall,” said Martin.
So, by the end of the fall, Woodward should be able to bike again along the Jordan River.
"It's a nice trail, I really like it,” said Woodward.
To keep the trail nice after the fall, Murray City is encouraging people to let them know if they see a crack through the concerns button on their website.