I took a ride over to the city's only multi-use path, only to find out that they closed it for the winter. I don't have any idea why though; the city I live in rarely gets much snow (what we do get pretty much never lasts longer than a day or two), and it really is a nice path (I actually was kinda looking forward to riding through what little snow we get on it). I at least got a good road-ride out of the trip though. :p

Do your city's MUPs stay open year-round?

Yes...the city actually makes plowing and grooming them a high priority and I don't think I have seen them stay snow covered for longer than 24 hours after a snowfall... my snow route is often plowed before I leave for work at 7 am.

They dont clear the snow of the bike paths in winter, but cros country skiers use them. They also close the bike/pedestrian crossing of the St Lawrence river 1 Dec to 1 Apr, which stops my bike commute. Pedestrians can cross the river on the subway train but bikes are not allowed in rush hours.

They dont clear the snow of the bike paths in winter, but cros country skiers use them. They also close the bike/pedestrian crossing of the St Lawrence river 1 Dec to 1 Apr, which stops my bike commute. Pedestrians can cross the river on the subway train but bikes are not allowed in rush hours.

MUP's are year round in DC (at least I have not seen any closed).

Same here on the subway, no bikes during rush hour.

MUP's are year round in DC (at least I have not seen any closed).

In over 20 years around DC I've never seen them close, but I've never seen them plowed or shoveled either.

Year round here in Dallas area.

When weather is bad, no one's on them.

I would guess maybe your city doesn't want to patrol them in low-use times.

Ours are plowed - 30+ miles worth of local trails, as fast as the streets are plowed. However, that doesn't mean that there isn't ice in some spots, especially on the underpasses under the bridges.

Clear and open all year. Every year or two heavy rains close one or two for a day or so.

In Wisconsin the paved MUPs that are close to cities are open year-round, even with they are snow & ice covered. Away from the cities, they are used by snowmobilers and not maintained in any way, so it is a ride at your own risk deal.

I took a ride over to the city's only multi-use path, only to find out that they closed it for the winter. I don't have any idea why though; the city I live in rarely gets much snow (what we do get pretty much never lasts longer than a day or two), and it really is a nice path (I actually was kinda looking forward to riding through what little snow we get on it). I at least got a good road-ride out of the trip though. :p

Do your city's MUPs stay open year-round?

Ours MUPs and Bike lanes are officially open April 1st through October 1st. This gets the highway departmen off the hook for having to plow them. I honestly can't blame them either, We do get frequent snow. During the past 5 days we have had precipitation each day. There are also few pedestrians and cyclists on the path, and there are parallel roads to the paths that aren't too bad on a bike. There is one pedestrian/cycling bridge over a highway that did get plowed once this year after the NorthEaster dropped over a foot of snow, but otherwise it gets no service.

Happy riding,
André

Ours are open in Grand Rapids, MI 365 days a year. Sometimes in the winter they are covered with snow and ice, but they are open. I ride on them with my kids, my wife runs on them all year long.

My guess is the local municipality for the OP is a liberal group that is concerned about liability and doesn't want to get sued if someone slips on the ice.

My guess is the local municipality for the OP is a liberal group that is concerned about liability and doesn't want to get sued if someone slips on the ice.

I think that you could substitute any political group name into that name. My point is that party affiliation/beliefs do not seem to determine the desire to protect oneself from a lawsuit. Any municipality that needs to protect itself from lawsuits so it can use the money elsewhere would seem to be acting in the communities best interest.

Now if it were a question of teaching abstinence, evolution, creationism, etc. you could make a more believable argument as to party attribution. I just don't see any core values coming strongly into play wrt MUP liability issues.