Sidewalks let you fill in gaps in the protected path network by riding slowly. In my city at least you can't really go fast on the sidewalks even if they're em

Sidewalks let you fill in gaps in the protected path network by riding slowly. In my city at least you can't really go fast on the sidewalks even if they're empty (lots of uneven brick, chunky curbs, trees, buildings have stoops, etc) so it's not a big issue. If someone has to go a couple blocks on the sidewalk they'll generally get back on the path / road as soon as able