"Connectivity" as pointed out in last nights meeting, seems an important point--to create a network that would assist commuting around town. There are many times I would like to walk or ride into "town" and not have to deal with the car roads.
Melinda Bruno-Smith ________________________________ From: Lincoln <[email protected]> on behalf of Leslie Turek <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, June 1, 2022 5:24 PM To: Margaret Olson <[email protected]> Cc: <[email protected]> <[email protected]>; Barbara Peskin <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [LincolnTalk] Corrected - Trail Use Proposal - not too late to postpone and impact on walkers and nature Someone at the open meeting made a good point. The local bike riders want to have expanded bike trails in order to have a network that would assist them to commute around town without having to ride on the dangerous narrow roads. A perfectly reasonable request. But the trails that were designated in the proposed plan were small dense networks, such as at Mt. Misery, that really didn't help much to help with that goal. I would like to see a plan that was specifically focussed on allowing people to travel around town, so that there would be only one bike-allowed trail through a specific area, with the rest of the trails reserved for walkers only. Leslie Turek On Wed, Jun 1, 2022 at 5:18 PM Margaret Olson <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: To put paths along all our major roads with no paths currently would require a serious commitment by the town. It could be done, but we would need to either spend very large amounts of money or make the roads with problems (limited right of way, ledge, wetlands) one way in order to devote a lane to a path. We would also need to remove most of the slip lanes. The majority of major roads with no path currently have a problem. Short of that level of commitment the trails are part of the network to get around town on foot or on bike. For a data point, a roadside path on Weston road had a rough estimate of 7-8 million assuming we could acquire the easements. On Wed, Jun 1, 2022 at 4:56 PM Jennifer Goodman <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: No one’s arguing whether bikes should exist in our town. But Amsterdam is a city. Mt Misery is the woods. Let’s keep bikes on sidewalks and roads, as they are in Boston. It does feel dangerous to me to have them on the trails. When I’m walking with bikes around, I hear the ‘on your left’ about a nanosecond before they are on top of me, and it's impossible to react in time. In what way is this an improvement? And will all the dogs at Mt Misery react fast enough, or in the right direction to get out of the way? Sounds like a mess waiting to happen. Especially if it’s “mostly kids." And I thought the ticks were the biggest challenge about a walk at Mt Misery. Well, maybe it’s aptly named after all? On Jun 1, 2022, at 4:50 PM, Margaret Olson <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: Thanks Doug - that's a great reminder that what we're talking about when it comes to bikes on trails in Lincoln in 2022 is mostly kids with some adults on errands and short casual trips. The serious mountain bikers aren't interested. I'm guessing, but this is probably why our neighboring towns have no problems; their trails aren't any more compelling to an adult than ours are. On Wed, Jun 1, 2022 at 4:00 PM Doug Carson <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: I think Margaret makes some great points here... Not only was Lincoln Guide Service attracting cyclists to Lincoln, but mountain biking was a relatively new sport in the 90s. Boston folks were coming to the Lincoln trails to *try* mountain biking. Those days are long gone...not because bikes are banned from most of our trails (as Margaret points out, Weston & Concord permit bikes on trails, yet they're not overrun with riders)...but because the sport has grown up. And as lovely as our trails are, they are not much of a mountain biking destination anymore. There are far too many better destinations that attract Boston mountain bikers. As our town thinks about this issue, let's keep in mind that with increasing traffic and gas prices, and of course the environmental issues, the more cars off the road, the better. Now imagine you can avoid one more drive to the post office, school, the library, Donelans, etc. because you could now use a mix of roads AND trails to get around town...I believe that would be a more desirable place to live. There are growing pains with any change (and rude people wherever you go). I recall visiting Amsterdam a few years ago with all the people biking everywhere there; I almost got run over on several occasions! But as a pedestrian there, I quickly figured out how to navigate. Point being that even good change takes some time to get used to it! Doug Carson On Wednesday, June 1, 2022, 01:34:17 PM EDT, Margaret Olson <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: I'd like to remind everyone that bikes are permitted on the Weston and Concord town trails with no adverse effects that this regular walker (24 years) can detect. Nor have I heard that there are problems on those trails. I am often on the Weston trails as I live near them. Twenty five years ago the Lincoln Guide Service did create a problem on the trails - but it is long gone. On Wed, Jun 1, 2022 at 1:07 PM Barbara Peskin <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: Correction - 8 miles to 19... Hi Lincoln Talk, I haven't had a chance to read all the comments but I know people have mentioned that the Conservation Commission is meeting tonight and vote on whether to enact proposed changes to trail use that include going from 8 to 19 miles of trails for recreational bike use and giving permits to large bike groups to use the trails and parking areas. As a 25+ year walker on Lincoln Trails and cherisher of nature on those walks, my main concern with proposed changes is that it will invite metro west bike groups to our trails and parking areas. I sent in a detailed letter and attended both forums. I can't attend tonight but my hope is they will postpone enacting changes and hear from more walkers and nature cherishers. If you would like to get a copy of my letter which is in the public record I'm happy to share it - it will give you more info. I've seen other wonderful arguments and letters asking to keep bike groups off the trails for a variety of reasons as well. I'll close here with the thought that at the last forum one LIncoln biker said he appreciates nature when biking on the trails alone - unfortunately the proposed sweeping changes to the trail use all over town is going to bring in bike groups - it's not about one or two Lincoln bike riders. Thanks for listening. Please contact me if you would like more thoughts on this. Thanks, Barbara -- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Barbara Peskin My Moments in Nature Photo Gallery: barbarapeskin.com<http://barbarapeskin.com/> -- The LincolnTalk mailing list. To post, send mail to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. Search the archives at http://lincoln.2330058.n4.nabble.com/. Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. Change your subscription settings at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. -- The LincolnTalk mailing list. To post, send mail to [email protected].<mailto:[email protected].> Search the archives at http://lincoln.2330058.n4.nabble.com/. Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. Change your subscription settings at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. -- The LincolnTalk mailing list. To post, send mail to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. Search the archives at http://lincoln.2330058.n4.nabble.com/. Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. Change your subscription settings at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. -- The LincolnTalk mailing list. To post, send mail to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. Search the archives at http://lincoln.2330058.n4.nabble.com/. Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. Change your subscription settings at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln.
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