Category: Bike trails

Top 10 rails-to-trails states; Michigan is No. 1

Michigan is fast becoming a major destination for bicycle touring, and one of its major draws is its wide-ranging network of rails-to-trails.

Abandoned and out-of-service railroad corridors criss-cross the state, and local governments and “friends of the trail” groups are transforming these into paved and gravel trails for bikes and other non-motorized users.

In fact, Michigan leads the nation in upgrading railroad corridors into bike trails. Its 126 rails-to-trails stretch for 2,379 miles around the state …

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2012/05/08/top-10-rails-to-trails-states-michigan-is-no-1/

Are bike path bollards an unnecessary hazard?

Whenever I used to come across a bollard in a bike trail, I’d get the righteous feeling of ownership that this was my trail; cars cannot get in.

Now I worry that a bicyclist might hit the bollard and suffer an injury. Are bollards safe?

Not always. Experienced bicyclist Giuseppe Maino, 53, died from injuries he suffered when he struck a bollard on the Richland B&O trail in Bellville, Ohio, this week.

Maino was riding at the rear of a group of cyclists …

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2012/04/27/are-bike-path-bollards-an-unnecessary-hazard/

Images of future Hwy. 520 bike trail over Lake Washington

It seems almost too good to be true for Seattle area bicyclists. The new Highway 520 bridge across Lake Washington will have bicycle and pedestrians lanes. These artists’ renderings prove it.

The Washington Department of Transportation posted the future views of the bridge at its flickr.com account last week.

Although I knew that advocates from Cascade Bicycle Club and the Bicycle Alliance of Washington pushed for a bike trail on the new bridge, seeing these views somehow makes it all the more real.

Now all we have to do is wait …

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2012/03/29/images-of-future-hwy-520-bike-trail-over-lake-washington/

“This bicycle trail sponsored by …”

Corporate sponsorships of biking and hiking trails may soon be a sign of the times in Florida.

The weak economy coupled with the reluctance to raise taxes to pay for public services has prompted Florida legislators to approve corporate sponsorships for trails in the sunshine state.

The bill — SB 268 — is sitting on the desk of Florida Gov. Rick Scott.

The bill enables sponsors to place one 16-square-foot sign in the parking lot or at the trailhead of the trail …

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2012/03/19/this-bicycle-trail-sponsored-by/

Celebrate reopening of Burke Gilman Trail on Tuesday

The official grand reopening of the Burke Gilman Trail through Lake Forest Park will be celebrated on Tuesday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and a bike ride.

A 2-mile section of the trail was closed between Log Boom Park and 145th Street for about 8 months. It reopened to positive reviews in mid-February.

Work crews contracted by King County widened the trail to 12 feet, improved sight lines, repaved the cracked surface and replaced a series of stop signs with yield signs.

The official reopening is scheduled for 4 to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday …

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2012/03/12/celebrate-reopening-of-burke-gilman-trail-on-tuesday/

Smooth bike-riding on newly renovated Burke Gilman Trail section

News that the 8-month renovation of a 2-mile section of the Burke-Gilman Trail reopened at noon on Friday sent me out on my bicycle this weekend to enjoy the fresh pavement.

The smooth riding was enjoyable, but I wasn't prepared for the trail's transformation from a narrow path to a bicycling superhighway.

Comparing two photos here of the Burke Gilman Trail crossing at 147th Street, it's hard to believe they were taken at the same location. The photo below was grabbed from trailviews at Googlemaps.com; I shot the one above on Sunday afternoon.

Changes like that are evident throughout the entire stretch from Log Boom Park to 145th Street.

This 2-mile section of the 18-mile Burke Gilman Trail …

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2012/02/13/smooth-bike-riding-on-newly-renovated-burke-gilman-trail-section/

Closing the gaps on Erie Canal will draw bicycle travelers

Just like the movie says, “If you build it, he will come.”

In the case of the Erie Canalway Trail in New York state, “he” is 500,000 bicyclists annually.

The Canalway Trails Association of New York says that about 75% of the 365-mile canal towpath between Buffalo to Albany is complete as an off-road bicycle path.

Completing the remaining 75 to 80 miles will cost about $35 million, according to a report issued this month by the association: “Closing the Gaps: A Progress Report on the Erie Canalway Trail”.

In addition to creating jobs for hundreds of workers, the completion of an off-road link from …

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/12/27/closing-the-gaps-on-erie-canal-will-draw-bicycle-travelers/

Kirkland to buy railroad corridor for future bike trail

Kirkland plans to buy its 5.5-mile section of the old Eastside railroad corridor that runs for 42 miles between Renton and Snohomish.

The city council approved the $5 million expenditure at a meeting Tuesday night. The final purchase would come through in March.

The abandoned railroad route could be improved into a biking and hiking trail in Kirkland, but there's talk of adding light rail or express buses to the corridor as well.

The cost of improving the abandoned railroad corridor ranges from $2.4 million to $82 million, depending on whether the path would be paved or ….

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/12/13/kirkland-to-buy-railroad-corridor-for-future-bike-trail/

Grants from Bikes Belong encourage safer bicycling

A group promoting crosstown bikeways in San Francisco (see video at left) and a community bicycle center in Portland are among seven recipients of Bikes Belong grants this fall.

Other urban bicycle projects on the grant list include the linking of two bike lanes in Atlanta, and bikeway extensions in Memphis and Grand Rapids. Grants also are going to research studies on the economic impact of bike use in Minneapolis and Greenville, South Carolina.

In all, the bike industry association issued $62,500 to the projects. Together they show the broad scope of bicycle programs that are active in the nation's urban areas ….

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/11/17/grants-from-bikes-belong-encourage-safer-bicycling/

Take a virtual bike ride on Burke Gilman and Cedar River trails


Larger view on jump

The Google Street View trike has been hitting the bicycle trails in Seattle and King County over the past summer and now those trail views are available on Google Maps.

I mashed a couple of trails with the TripGeo.com application to animate the bike path views on the Burke-Gilman Trail between Gas Works and Log Boom parks, left, and the Cedar River Trail from Renton to Landsburg, below.

It's fun to see the locales of our off-road rides preserved on the Internet. Seattle Bike Blog located trail views outside the Seattle Google headquarters in Ballard and the Seattle end of the I-90 bike trail….

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/11/14/take-a-virtual-bike-ride-on-burke-gilman-and-cedar-river-trails/