Advocacy & Safety - Petition for Multi-Use trails

On Wednesday, March 24, 2004 there will be a committee meeting to discuss the Prince William County, VA Multi-Use trail Project. This project has been proposed by MORE-MTB.org, running, and equestrian groups. This trail will be a great recreational, educational, and entertaining venture. Similar projects like the Fairfax county trails, the W.O and D, Custis trail, Capital Crescent trail, C & O Cannel, etc. have had great success and are used daily by many people. If you are interested in signing a petition to support this project, go to http://www.petitiononline.com/PWCMT/petition.html

You do not need to live in PWC to support this project.



Pat

Multi-use trails have their place, and I do not object to them, as long as they are perceived as supplements, not substitutes, for on-road cycling accommodations. For transportation-oriented and other serious bicyclists, multi-use trails can be more dangerous than the streets.

San Diego County's coastal strip is slowly getting a "rail trail," and the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition is fighting to retain the existing, heavily-used Class II bike lanes and/or shoulders on Pacific Coast Highway "Surf Route" 101, so that vital highway width is not sacrificed for the sake of the multi-use trail. To the extent that it gets child cyclists, joggers, bladers, casual cyclists, and wrong-way cyclists off the Class II bike lanes, the multi-use trail could be a big success.

This county does pretty well for how redneck they are. The multiuse trail will be more for getting out in the woods, than for transportation. The NoVA area has quite a few rails to trails that are used for commuting. These trails are good for commuting if you use a bell and some brains.