Please consider coming out and supporting the development of the Canyon Rim Trail on Tuesday, January 20th - 6:00 p.m in Council Chambers.
This is an important project that will help define what is included in "economic development" in Los Alamos going forward.
From the Parks & Rec Department: "This trail network of multi-purpose, paved trail will serve to link neighborhoods, parks, and businesses with safe, easy alternative transportation routes."
The Canyon Rim Trail will be considered by the CIP Committee on Tuesday night. Opposition to the trail is emerging in the developing battle for limited CIP funds. Consider attending this CIP meeting to voice support or consider emailing the committee (rick.bohn@lacnm.us).
You can review the proposal on the county's website at:
http://www.losalamosnm.us/news/Pages/CIPAppPublicMtgsStart.aspx
More information is available at this site:
http://www.losalamosnm.us/parks/trails/Pages/CanyonRimTrailSysProp.aspx
1 comment:
I support the Canyon Rim Trail on general principles--it provides a very interesting and needed public recreational facility. However, as a League Cycling Instructor and cyclist, I have a couple bones to pick with how this project is being pitched in the CIP application.
1. "The Canyon Rim Trail will be a hard-surface pathway suitable for concurrent use by walkers, bicycles, baby strollers,
runners, and wheelchairs. The pathway will be 10 feet wide and the grade will remain below 5 percent.... Highway crossings may be developed as part of the project."
Frankly, a ten foot wide multiuse path with up to a five percent grade can by anything but suitable for sharing by bicyclists, baby strollers, wheelchairs, etc. This is a rather narrow width, so speed and user conflicts are going to have to be managed carefully. Also, those highway crossings had better be designed well in order to avoid crashes.
2. "The Canyon Rim Trail will address both safety and sustainability issues in Los Alamos. The trail will provide
a safe alternative to the use of the highway shoulder as a recreational or commuter path to the County shops, commercial developments, and other employers along the south side of the Los Alamos Airport."
I think this statement is baloney and plays into the hands of the cyclist-inferiority complex--that the only way to be safe is to flee the roads and ride a bike path. There is nothing particularly unsafe about the road shoulder, and there may be something pretty unsafe about sharing a shared-use path with joggers, dog walkers, and baby strollers.
Lets support the path for the recreational resource that it is, rather than use a scare tactic that in effect tells the community that cyclists don't belong on and are unsafe on the road.
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