On Friday, December 7, 2018 at 10:16:53 PM UTC-6, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 12/7/2018 4:15 PM, wrote:
On Thursday, December 6, 2018 at 8:09:38 PM UTC-6, AMuzi wrote:
On 12/6/2018 6:27 PM, wrote:
On Thursday, December 6, 2018 at 7:50:41 AM UTC-6, AMuzi wrote:
http://www.cityofmadison.com/police/...t.cfm?id=23278

Segregated paths can be so quiet and serene. No pesky cars,
pedestrians, witnesses...

Your title is "kiddie path". But the police report is of a 19 year old girl/woman and a 20-24 year old perpetrator. I realize in a college town every student at Wisconsin U is a "kid". But I still think of teenage and less as being kids. Everyone older is an adult. So not a "kiddie path". I would give the perpetrator some style points for using a bow and arrow to accost the victim. Even your criminals are stylish up there in Madison.


It's a former railroad track, now with asphalt. Overmuch
vegetation, poor sight lines, crappy intersections and the
usual 'segregated facility' features.

'kiddie path' is indeed pejorative but 'public roadway' it
is not.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

We have the exact same bike paths in Des Moines area. Probably 200 to 300 total miles of trails. Most converted railroads. Asphalt. Many miles are as you described. Trees on both sides and overtop too. Sometimes very little sunlight gets through. The ones in the countryside cross many gravel roads but very few paved roads. Trails in town cross a few more paved roads. Most of them follow rivers or are parallel to main highways. Ones in the country are pretty straight since they are former railways. Railways don't make many corners or turns. They see quite a bit of activity during the warmer months. I am very happy they are there. Put me in the "Like Trails" group.

I like empty, unpopular rail trails, at least for a little while. It can
be nice to have no noise from passing traffic, and occasionally you can
find one that bypasses a really ugly stretch of road.

But they tend to be much more boring than roads, because there are no
hills, not even little rises, and they tend to be dead straight. They
usually avoid the pleasant little country towns, which means they
usually aren't useful for more than an out-and-back ride. And on many,
the scenery seems to be endless stretches of woods.


If by "woods" you mean trees and brush on either side of the trail and overhead, then yes. And we have lots of views of bean and corn fields too. And some trails follow the river so we get lots of views of the river too.




The rail trails that are really popular can be chaotic to the point of
danger, and that makes it hard for me to lobby for them. "Please put in
a trail that only a very few cyclists will use"? It's a hard sell.


--
- Frank Krygowski