PLANO (WBAP/KLIF)-To improve trail safety and emergency access, the City of Plano is implementing a trail marker system that will aid first responders in the event of an emergency.
Emergency response teams will now be able to determine exactly where on a trail they need to respond and how to best access that location.
Signs will be posted alongside the trail approximately every 1/3 mile with a unique location identifier to ensure that trail users are always near an emergency marker.
“The challenges that we always have is that when we get a 911 call we don’t usually get the exact location just a general area,” said Plano Officer David Tilley. “There’s not a lot of identifying marks in the trails right now. This will help reduce response time and when you’re talking about an emergency 911 call, time is of the essence,” said Tilley.
The unique location ID listed on each trail marker provides emergency response teams with three essential pieces of information: trail section, trail name, and orientation. All trails within the emergency trail marker system are divided into sections or blocks to help filter a user’s north or south coordinates along the trail. A trail block is denoted in the first number within the listed three digit number. The last two digits allow first responders to further pinpoint the user’s position. The
signage will also include the initials of the trail name as well as, in some instances, the trail orientation (north, south, east, or west).
In the spring of 2019, a pilot program was deployed along Chisholm Trail to test the system’s effectiveness. The system is now being be expanded to other Plano trails.
