tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6955311294411328562.post7750712873991208881..comments2023-08-18T11:40:19.852-06:00Comments on Los Alamos and Santa Fe Bikes: Canyon Rim Trail CIP Committee MeetingScotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10105951751896463667noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6955311294411328562.post-30492849058735110592009-01-16T16:36:00.000-07:002009-01-16T16:36:00.000-07:00I support the Canyon Rim Trail on general principl...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.<BR/><BR/>1. "The Canyon Rim Trail will be a hard-surface pathway suitable for concurrent use by walkers, bicycles, baby strollers,<BR/>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."<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>2. "The Canyon Rim Trail will address both safety and sustainability issues in Los Alamos. The trail will provide<BR/>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."<BR/><BR/>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.<BR/><BR/>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.Khalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11866897914538110672noreply@blogger.com