4 ms·

I'm sorry, but as much as I love biking, rail trails as a concept make me quite sad. We are looting the carcass of a better past economy.

bogidon 6y ago
Indeed. There are some projects called Rail AND Trail, and imo this distinction should be talked about more. For example, a 32 mile old railroad in Santa Cruz, CA that is being revitalized for electric trains AND getting a bike path built alongside it: https://www.railandtrail.org/discover.html https://www.railandtrail.org/discover.html
- Ericson2314 6y ago
  I've heard of these things before, but they always leave me confused. Common sense either you need to 1. shrink the train (and what more than "light rail" speaks to the pain and embarrassment that accompanies crawling back from automobile culture) 2. expand the right-of-way 3. commit to turning over the trail once the rail is reconstructed Which is it?
  - pacaro 6y ago
    My understanding is that the right of way for the rail is significantly wider than needed for the tracks alone. I live near a rail line that was converted to a multi use trail and as part of the conversion process there had to be a decision made about past encroachment onto the right of way — mostly homeowners who had pushed their property boundaries closer to the actual rail. Looking at the planning maps it was surprising how wide the path is, but I suspect that it is to allow for the embankments and cuttings needed to keep a railroad level (or at least to keep grades within tolerance)
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
- m463 6y ago
  pretty cool. The Rail Trail will be within a mile of 92 parks, 44 schools and half the county’s population. In addition to the 32 mile Rail Trail spine, the MBSST Network Master Plan includes 18 miles of spur trails connecting the Rail Trail with other destinations.
enkid 6y ago
This is not necessarily true. Just because we don't use as many miles of a particular transportation does not mean the economy is shrinking. Rail still makes up a huge portion of cargo transportation in the United States, we just don't need the lines that were used for last mile delivery or personal transportation because that gap was better filled by automotive and aerial transportation.
m463 6y ago
I can think of one way to make this a net positive. They could upgrade the future by putting optical fiber into the roadbed and making it available at all the locations along the way.
JoeAltmaier 6y ago
I think of it as the opposite: keeping the right-of-way against the day rail may return.

bogidon 6y ago

Indeed. There are some projects called Rail AND Trail, and imo this distinction should be talked about more. For example, a 32 mile old railroad in Santa Cruz, CA that is being revitalized for electric trains AND getting a bike path built alongside it: https://www.railandtrail.org/discover.html https://www.railandtrail.org/discover.html

Ericson2314 6y ago
I've heard of these things before, but they always leave me confused. Common sense either you need to 1. shrink the train (and what more than "light rail" speaks to the pain and embarrassment that accompanies crawling back from automobile culture) 2. expand the right-of-way 3. commit to turning over the trail once the rail is reconstructed Which is it?
- pacaro 6y ago
  My understanding is that the right of way for the rail is significantly wider than needed for the tracks alone. I live near a rail line that was converted to a multi use trail and as part of the conversion process there had to be a decision made about past encroachment onto the right of way — mostly homeowners who had pushed their property boundaries closer to the actual rail. Looking at the planning maps it was surprising how wide the path is, but I suspect that it is to allow for the embankments and cuttings needed to keep a railroad level (or at least to keep grades within tolerance)
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
m463 6y ago
pretty cool. The Rail Trail will be within a mile of 92 parks, 44 schools and half the county’s population. In addition to the 32 mile Rail Trail spine, the MBSST Network Master Plan includes 18 miles of spur trails connecting the Rail Trail with other destinations.

enkid 6y ago

This is not necessarily true. Just because we don't use as many miles of a particular transportation does not mean the economy is shrinking. Rail still makes up a huge portion of cargo transportation in the United States, we just don't need the lines that were used for last mile delivery or personal transportation because that gap was better filled by automotive and aerial transportation.

m463 6y ago

I can think of one way to make this a net positive. They could upgrade the future by putting optical fiber into the roadbed and making it available at all the locations along the way.

JoeAltmaier 6y ago

I think of it as the opposite: keeping the right-of-way against the day rail may return.