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Eliza Furnace trail deterioration, steps

Yesterday I was traveling down the short, steep path connecting the jail trail to bates street: At the top of this path I noticed that erosion is beginning to eat away at the asphalt of the jail trail (perspective: looking at edge of asphalt trail from below/to the side on the path): This is really worrisome because a lot of money just got spent on the new trail bridge and resurfacing that section. It's quite nice and I'd hate to see some of that hard work go to waste do to erosion! What are the plans for adding steps to replace the dirt path up the side of the hill here and shore up this area? I talked to an urban planner a while ago (maybe at a MOVEPGH workshop), and he said that one goal was to ultimately build a nice ramp that would go from the trail underneath and perpendicular to 376, ending at Bates and Hodge. But I got the idea that this won't happen for a while. What can we do in the short term to protect our investment here?
ted
2013-06-21 13:10:46
Ted, a year ago or two there was discussion on the board about steps. IIRC, ADA is a problem.
mikhail
2013-06-21 13:32:52
Whenever going that way, I usually take the sidewalk down Second Ave and get onto the EFT via the ramp. Doesn't solve the issue, but to me it's a lot easier than climbing that cliff.
that_tickles
2013-06-21 14:56:53
Is it possible to get a waiver of the ADA requirement? After all, it's ADA compliant if you wheel around the corner onto the Second Ave sidewalk. I'd prefer a non-compliant staircase to a broken trail.
stuinmccandless
2013-06-21 15:03:16
The Elmo solution is the right one, perhaps with some sharrows on 2nd. And maybe one of those curb butt-outs to guide right-turning cars into the left lane). The existing path is not really a general access solution, and pending the construction of a real ramp (ADA-compliant and therefore cyclist-friendly), the right thing to do is to reinforce the trail edge to prevent erosion.
ahlir
2013-06-21 19:51:02
Ahlir wrote:with some sharrows on 2nd.
2nd from Bates to end of Ansaldo Garage is under state control (4 lane two way road). It's a snow route. So it would be problematic to put share there.
mikhail
2013-06-21 20:12:32
There's a decent sidewalk along there, IIRC. No need to ride in the street for the 200 yards from Bates to the ramp.
stuinmccandless
2013-06-22 13:14:33
StuInMcCandless wrote:There’s a decent sidewalk along there
You're right. I see it on the Google. Funny how you stop noticing sidewalks after a while... I still think sharrows along that stretch would be nice idea. They might not need to be those nice baked-on official ones.
ahlir
2013-06-22 17:03:39
Any place where the sidewalk is the best option is a failure.
salty
2013-06-22 17:08:42
salty wrote:Any place where the sidewalk is the best option is a failure.
While I agree with this statement, this sidewalk isn't really utilized by pedestrian traffic except for the occasional person waiting for a bus there. Definitely not the optimal route, but they did a pretty good job making it easy for cyclists to transition onto the EFT.
that_tickles
2013-06-23 06:55:57
That bit of Second is a bus layover area, so there would not be many, if any, people waiting there -- barring the occasional gaggle of drivers out of the buses, having a smoke. The bus stop is at Technology Drive, well downstream of the access ramp to the trail. As to sharrowing that bit of Second, that will be like sharrowing West Carson. An interesting exercise, if misguided.
stuinmccandless
2013-06-23 08:29:36