Hurry Now For a Sneak Peek at the City's New "Happy Trails" Safety Website and Videos

By Robert Wilonsky Tue., May 3 2011 at 4:12 PM

Categories: City Hall, Park and Rec

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The city's having a press conference Thursday morning during which Mayor Dwaine Caraway, Park and Rec officials and others will unveil the city's new "Happy Trails" campaign designed to make the 104 miles of the city's Dallas Trail Network jes' a little bit safer. You recall this campaign: We sneak peeked the new signs back in February, though parks officials said they weren't the final versions -- more like ... suggestions, let's say. And, turns out, the city has taken your comments to heart. Kind of.

I was poking around Vimeo moments ago and discovered JAKE:FERGUSON Advertising's really nicely done videos created for the campaign -- a couple of which are star-studded, featuring the likes of Kent Rathbun, Mark Cuban, Brad Sham, Troy Dungan, Ebby Halliday and the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. (And all of which are scored by none other than the great Junior Brown.) The long music video follows, though who knows -- it could disappear sooner than later till its official unveiling later in the week. (Update: It's gone. For now.)

Anyway. The end of the video encourages you to visit the city's new website: Happy Trails Dallas, which is chock full o' stuff -- from a series of brief "trail etiquette" videos to host of trail maps to the "Happy Trails" pledge. And you'll also find the new signs, which flip over when you click on 'em -- in case there's any confusion about what "Look Both Ways" means. So run on over to the site, which will open shop Thursday morning. Consider this your VIP early access pass, among the many benefits of being a Friend of Unfair Park.

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Yep - They are on the Santa Fe Trail - Saw them when I rode it yesterday. I found them very distracting and a prime example of a nagging nanny state. If you want me to go slow then a simple curve symbol and slow would work - I don't need a happy face. Good news is that I bet many will be "tagged" in the near future.
Really now? Where do you recognize them from?
I'd have to say that these are more than "suggestions" at this point, as they're already showing up around the south end of White Rock Lake. I saw three of them while running the loop today.
Thank Dog the Santa Fe trail has not yet fallen to the hordes of hipster,too tight ,fairy suit wearing pricks that seem to inhabit WRL & the Katy trail
The "Stay Right" sign must be a subtle message to also avoid terrorism on our trails, lest you end up like bin laden.
On the other hand, standard, typical everyday signage is like background noise and are ignored as such. Perhaps making them different and engaging, actually gets the message noticed more effectively... I said Perhaps...
See, now was that so hard?
So, anyone think Amazon knows that their look has been ripped off yet?
I, for one, want no one from Dallas City Hall anywhere near my happy trail.
Trail safety could be improved greatly with some cheap design changes and better maintenance. At least at WRL. Nasty cracks on the Garland Road section, blind corners, bushes blocking your view, but hey, that would require some effort on the part of the Parks Dept. Their refusal to reroute fast bikers back onto the road is another issue that could vastly improve safety, but again, they won't. DISD teacher, bad apples are not the problem, it's a lack of common sense and basic courtesy for the most part.
The city doesn't pay teachers; the school district pays teachers.
Dont listen to the negative guy below. Good point made!
Sorry, i'll work on being more negative.
Surprising comment from DISD Teacher. You believe that the people who need to heed the signs will ignore them and therefore they will be basically useless. I would have thought you would have pointed out that for what the city likely paid to design, produce and install these signs, they could have saved at least 1 teacher's job...
Uhhh, you've got a little cool-aid on your shirt there, bro...
Actually Ralph is right. Mind you, I'm glad Park and Rec is looking into this and thinking about what kinds of signs they need to put up. That's good. That's very good, in fact. But this isn't about making "happy signs" that look pretty. It's about making clear and functional signs because this is a safety issue, not an advertising campaign.
http://www.jakeferguson.com/ Dallas on Main St
Where is the ad/marketing agency that built that campaign based? 90% of the photos used are not even in Dallas or Texas or maybe even the United States.
I like em. If we've gotten to the point where we have to have sign clutter so a few bad apples will behave more safely, at least these signs are interesting to figure out. Of course, in life as in school, the bad apples will ignore the signs no matter how clear or standard the signs may be. These are "preaching to the choir" signs anyway, so they may as well be colorful and a bit artistic.
A real ray of sunshine there buddy
These are great designs, very effective and well done. I guess some people are always going to complain, just to get attention, but these are great. Good job everyone!
Am I the only one who looks at the NO STOPPING OR STANDING and think it means GET STONED?
Can I stop ralphing now? What a waste of time a money. Signs should be clear and functional and internationally standard - See: http://www.trafficsign.us/bikesign.html Not just an excuse to figure out how many ways to show a happy face. Since they make no sense without the language description does this mean that we expect everyone to be able to read? - And sense these are such non-nonsensical does it mean that you must post both the English AND Spanish versions? I guess it would be a base for some creative graffiti... Moreover confusion in traffic situations can kill - which we have already seen on Dallas Trails. So feel good . Feel Safe, And when you make a wrong turn or stop and get whacked by someone going 10, 15 or 20 mph and your head bounces on the pavement - at least your last look at this world can be at a happy sign!
Where's the one about watching out for dirty syringes and broken 40ozer's?