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I'm not sure if many of y'all ride on Cogan Rd between Iatan and Eastside Dr. I've ridden it many times over the last 4-5 years, only a couple miles long, but kinda fun except when it's wet. A year ago or so, a deadend sign was put up at Eastside Dr but not at the other end and I kept driving it. Sunday I was going through from the north end and nearly drove into a 2-3' deep ditch cut across the road...no warning signs or barriers so I suspect a land owner is trying to prevent access to be able to appropriate the land. A couple calls to the county resulted in confusion- one said it hadn't been maintained in 5 years, the other said 10-11 years but had been used as a bypass during '09 flooding. I suggested that, since it's clearly showing as a public road on the latest Platte property map, the county should figure out who dug the ditch and fill it in or decide that it's not a public road, close it and the land owner post signs stating it's now their property. Because my policy when riding is a gate, opened or closed, or mailbox , or posted signs is 'no go'. But if none of those conditions exist AND it shows as a public road it's fair game. Am I mistaken?
It was mentioned that at the next commissioners meeting it would be discussed.
In the meantime, if you want to check it out, I believe it's still open from the south side at Iatan village.


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Kudos to you for taking real action--contacting the county officials and getting it on the docket for discussion.

I complain about stuff like this all the time, and think "I should call a county commissioner or planner or something"...and never do. There are roads in AR that are posted by land owners as if they are private roads, and I'm pretty sure the roads are public, but....do I take any real action? No.

I've not ridden that road, but let us know if you get any follow up on this!

I assume you mean this bit of road:
https://goo.gl/maps/SNgbgh7gtGy

That sucks. You know it. couldn't be bothered with a gate. Wanted it shut anyway. What a $&$+#!

I never do anything either. But I am always a few counties away. Glad to see you doing something. Another year more fun ones taken...



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troy wrote:Kudos to you for taking real action--contacting the county officials and getting it on the docket for discussion.

I complain about stuff like this all the time, and think "I should call a county commissioner or planner or something"...and never do. There are roads in AR that are posted by land owners as if they are private roads, and I'm pretty sure the roads are public, but....do I take any real action? No.

I've not ridden that road, but let us know if you get any follow up on this!

I assume you mean this bit of road:
https://goo.gl/maps/SNgbgh7gtGy

Yup, that's it. My action wasn't that much...just a couple calls to shake the trees.
I did also point out the safety concern of a ditch dug on a county road that perhaps wasn't county approved and certainly not properly cautioned[emoji851] The gentleman I was speaking to reminded me of the dead end sign, to which I replied, if the county put up the sign then they should remove that as a through road on the GIS map and the owner can put up a gate. If the county didn't put up the sign, was it legal. He said, but people sometimes go around gates; I said, well why not if it's a public road. He seemed to get confused at that point or maybe pegged me as a scofflaw[emoji33]


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maoule wrote:........ since it's clearly showing as a public road on the latest Platte property map,...........

Maps are unreliable and take year and sometime decades to change.

Below is a map showing roads that my family closed years ago in Bourbon County, KS. They still show up on county maps as well as about every other map out there.



Enter a road that gated, has purple paint on trees or post or has no trespassing signs and you are taking a risk.

If the road is gated or has no trespassing signs across it, I respect the landowners wishes, pull out my paper maps put a red x and a note on the map, and proceed to reroute around it. As for purple paint on trees it could be two different landowners marking opposites side of the road which I have seen a number of times, so I proceed on.

Without any doubt, I have ridden public, legal-to-travel roads that intersect land where the land owner seems to have gone out of their way to make you think the road is private property.

Another funny thing to me is when I do a long ride and I'm 50 miles from any town riding by ranch land that is clearly private property that is all barbwire fenced and the land owner has put purple paint on every other fence post. I gotta wonder who is driving 50 miles out on rough roads to hop this guy's barbwire fence? Illegal cow petting? I do understand when a land owner is close to public forest it could be a problem.

I was wondering if there was legal process or time period that has to occur in which the county abandons a road and the landowners get the land. Or do they have to buy it from the county?
Regardless, if they owned the roadway, they could fence and gate the it, mystery solved. My suspicion is they don't own it and dug a ditch to block access. But the way it was dug, mostly hidden by tree branches and bushes, I think they have bad intentions. That's probably what wound me up the most.


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Some friends of mine came very close to a bad situation riding down an old road in Arkansas where someone had strung a single cable across about chest high. No signs or flags on the cable. Only purpose of that is to hurt someone.

My brother and I were running close to 40 MPH on a 2 track road--at least I thought it was a public road--when at the last second I noticed a barb wire strung across the road. I slammed the breaks stopping just short of the wire. Glad my eyesight was good. My eyesight has degraded significantly in the last 5 years, and if this trend continues, I'm a little worried about what I won't see when riding.

troy wrote:........
Another funny thing to me is when I do a long ride and I'm 50 miles from any town riding by ranch land that is clearly private property that is all barbwire fenced and the land owner has put purple paint on every other fence post. I gotta wonder who is driving 50 miles out on rough roads to hop this guy's barbwire fence? .......

A huge problem are people trespassing to shoot deer, turkey, quail...

ajayhawkfan wrote:

troy wrote:........
Another funny thing to me is when I do a long ride and I'm 50 miles from any town riding by ranch land that is clearly private property that is all barbwire fenced and the land owner has put purple paint on every other fence post. I gotta wonder who is driving 50 miles out on rough roads to hop this guy's barbwire fence? .......

A huge problem are people trespassing to shoot deer, turkey, quail...

I get WHY someone would generally trespass. Here in Kansas where we have minimal public hunting land and lots of farms & ranches in easy driving distance for hunting day trips, I'm sure it's a common problem.

I'm talking about areas that seem so remote to any population center with thousands of acres of public land to buffer the ranch from the city. Then I see a wide open cattle pasture with a 100 gallons of purple paint. Just seems unlikely that lots of people are passing thousands of acres of hunting land to sneak out onto a wide open cattle pasture to hunt. I always assume the signs are reactive--not proactive. A barb-wired pasture full of cows is not confusing--pretty sure that's not public land. There must have been a problem that warranted the effort and expense.

This isn't a debate over private vs public land. It's my brain trying to make logical sense of what I see--my curiosity (and sometimes disgust) about human behavior.