A commenter on the Washcycle blog where I first read of the mandatory sidepath provision in the Transportation Bill had the following to say:
In most parts of the country NPS, BLM and other stewards of Federal land are the furthest things imaginable from builders of bike paths
It only takes a little research to prove that statement incorrect.
Consider the Cape Cod National Seashore.
I happen to have posted an article with photos of the Province Lands paths (near the tip of the Cape), so you can see what kind of path we’re talking about here.
The Nauset path near the south end of the park also parallels a road. These paths in the National Seashore were built long ago to a very low design standard. Roads paralleling these paths now have Share the Road signs, reflecting the reality that many bicyclists prefer to ride on them. The roads also are more direct, and serve some trip generators which the paths do not. With the proposed law, the NPS would have to take these signs down and replace them with bicycle prohibition signs, and the park rangers would have to busy themselves with chasing bicyclists off these roads, reflecting a prohibition which is inconsistent with traffic law elsewhere in Massachusetts.
More examples:
Valley Forge National Historical Park
Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge
And quite a number more, I’m sure. Just search under the activity “Biking” on the page
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