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Old unused railways being repurposed as bike paths actually can be good for general mobility, traffic safety, etc. In the case you are describing I'd still say
by creesch 3y ago
Old unused railways being repurposed as bike paths actually can be good for general mobility, traffic safety, etc.
In the case you are describing I'd still say it is more of a symptom of an underlying issue to be honest. One you yourself do actually describe.
> The County also goes to great lengths to spend as much money as possible. When digging a new tunnel, the excavated material was used to stuff the old tunnel, meaning there was no increase in capacity. In another instance, once the tunnel was finished, the $$$$$$$ tunnel boring machine was sold for scrap instead of being reused.
To me this more or less seems to hint at an overall lack of vision on transit and traffic in general. Or rather, the unwillingness to do the investments necessary. Frankly, the fact that you even got biking infrastructure at all is sort of amazing and probably only happened because the investment needed was minimal.
- vkou 3y agoIt's not useful biking infrastructure, because of the way that the Cross-Kirkland Corridor is arranged. You can't really get to work, or to the store, or to school with it. Unless you work at Google, it's only really useful as a recreational route. The purpose of redeveloping the rail line into a biking path wasn't to improve biking infrastructure, or reduce Kirkland's dependency on cars. It was to hamstring any mass transit that might go into that space.
- WalterBright 3y agoIt doesn't go directly to Bellevue Mall, but the line runs close enough to it that the mall is within easy walking distance, along with the rest of downtown.
- WalterBright 3y agoI walk on the bike paths now and then. There isn't remotely the traffic on them like the parallel road. And that's in good weather. 6 months of the year, when it's wet and chilly, it's empty. While transit would be carrying lots more people year round. Then there's the rail line that used to run from Renton to Bothell, paralleling 405 which is gridlocked every day. A couple of people are on the bike path now and then, when the weather is good.
- creesch 3y agoSure, I get your point. In your specific case in your specific region, it is a shame that this did happen. However, the first comment you made was a much more generalized, broadly sweeping statement. A statement that effectively did seem to dismiss biking infrastructure or the investment in biking infrastructure. It is that statement I took issue with, not the highly anecdotal specific case it turned out to be based.