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The rail trail continues east of Broad Street as a sidepath on the north side of Vila do Porto Boulevard, which occupies the former railroad alignment. Despite its grand name, the Boulevard is only a two-lane street. It carries light traffic and connects the same destinations as Main Street (Route 62), one block to the north.
This treatment reflects a failure of design intent. AASHTO guidelines specify a 5-foot minimum separation between path and road. The single-minded goal of creating a continuous off-road facility for both bicyclists and pedestrians has resulted in serious hazards.
At night, eastbound bicyclists ride into the bright side of the beams of motorists' headlamps. Eastbound bicyclists also are adjacent to the curb where they can descend the curb into the street and are then trapped facing oncoming fraffic. Here, as at the intersection in the previous slide, it would have made sense to separate bicyclists from pedestrians, placing the bicyclists in the street. Suggestion: make Vila do Porto Boulevard one-way eastbound with a contraflow westbound bike lane on the north side,spaced away from the trail. Novice and child bicyclists could still ride on the trail but would not be facing headlamp beams. More about this suggestion in later slides.
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