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Originally Posted by Dmajackson
^I disagree Keith.
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Well, that wouldn't be the first time you were wrong.
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At the moment yes the trail does go nowheres but in the near future it will extend all the way to Bayers Lake providing a crucial AT link to the existing BLT corridor at Lakeside. In the far out future the waterside trail to Bedford will connect to the other end and I believe the HUGA trail will either connect or come relatively close to the area. Besides having a nice wide paved trail adjacent to a busy stretch of road will create a safe location for cyclists and pedestrians alike.
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The problem is this artificial distinction between active transportation systems and other systems. We just have one transportation system, made up of pedestrians, cyclists, vehicle drivers, and public transit. Those things need to work together to enable people to get where they need to go. If you have different systems for each you end up with an expensive and dysfunctional mess. You see that already in the way MT does not integrate the ferry into the rest of their system.
This whole "trail" mindset has gotten out of control. Either the proponents are misusing the term or they have a different secret agenda. To me, a trail is something that goes through an undeveloped area, basically in the wilderness, and can be used for hiking or cycling (I'll avoid the whole ATV controversy for the moment). When you get to an urban area, the trail stops and you are then dealing with different infrastructure -- sidewalks and streets. No reason why they cannot nicely coexist and integrate, but trails in a city that parallel and potentially duplicate an existing heavily-used right of way make little sense.
The way this one is designed makes even less sense. That ROW would be perfect for an eventual mass transit corridor. They could have at a minimum used some of the land to allow for bus pullovers on Joe Howe, and to eliminate the existing bottleneck where the ramp to the 102 intersects. But nooooo... they waste public money constructing an asphalt surface that few will use.
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I'm also sure HRM will green the space between the road and the trail as funds are made available for it.
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Two points: that space should not be "greened". It needs to be a sidewalk. That is a heavily traveled pedestrian route and when they need to access a crosswalk or a bus stop they need to traverse the existing muddy, rutted ground. You don't want that space left au naturel. Besides, if they have not found money to build a sidewalk there in the 50 or so years that street has existed in its current form, I somehow doubt that is a priority ow.
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One thing I'm not sure of is wether or not HRM will make the trail convenient or not. At most trail/road intersections vehicles are given priority which is absurd especially along main AT corridors. If the trail does not give good access to Superstore and adjacent roads locals will not use the trail which is a similar problem to what people face in Bedford and along the HUGA trail on Beaufort Avenue.
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Vehicles should have priority. They are by far the most used mode of transportation, especially when you consider that buses use those same routes. Why do cyclists always feel they are so virtuous that they need to be at the top of everyone's list of things to bow down to? They are, and in our climate will always be, a fringe minority of those moving around town. As for making it convenient, that is the whole point. It is not. If you are walking on that trail you need to descend the raised gravel bed, traverse the rutted muddy ground between it and the curb, and stand in the mud at the crosswalk until the light changes. You have made my point for me -- the trail is a waste of money right now.
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