BIKE: Re: New Cap Metro long-range plan

[Mike Dahmus]

David Foster wrote:

>I only have time to reply quickly before heading off to work, and will
>confine my comments to bikes. On Rails with Trails, yes there may be parts
>of the ROW where space is insufficient for a 10' RwT. But we do not need RwT
>along the entire length of any of these tracks, not do we necessary always
>need to have a 10' trail. We DO need it to get us beyond/beneath barriers
>such as US 183, I35 and MOPAC. And there IS plenty of room for that in most
>cases. To get a sense of what is possible, we need do nothing more than to
>look at the 4th Street underpass at I35, part of the LAB, where we already
>have on the ground what is essentially a RwT trails connection next to Cap
>Metro's tracks.
>
And that location might be one of the first to be double-tracked, if I 
was to guess, since the initial terminus of the route will be just past 
I-35.

Relying on RwT is foolhardy. You MIGHT get something, but it will 
probably be short-lived. The ENTIRE route will eventually be 
double-tracked (as Tri-Rail in South Florida learned, you cannot run a 
commuter rail on single-track with sidings).

- MD