Roadside Shared-Use Paths

Shared-use paths running along streets aren’t common, but here are a few that we’ve found. Most of these are in non-residential areas and are on streets with much higher traffic volume than South Main Street. Given their settings, they all strike us as resonable applications of shared-use paths.

First, the stats for the proposed South Main St. shared-use path:
  • 0.4 miles long, from rail trail to library; cost: $2 million
  • 8 foot wide path
  • Thickly-settled residential neighborhood;
    path crosses 19 driveways or handicap ramps
  • Serious sight-line issues for most driveways
  • Street traffic volume: 809 vehicles per day
  • Map
  • Street view       More Photos


Industrial Lane, Broomfield, Colorado

  • 12 foot wide concrete path
  • 2 miles long; cost $3.5 million
  • Business district, no residences
  • No sight line issues
  • Project page
  • Map
  • Street view


Court Street, Westfield, MA

  • 0.36 miles long, from Holcomb St. to Holland Ave.
  • 10 foot wide concrete path
  • Looks like a neighborhood, but all the houses are now businesses except for the one on the right in the picture
  • No sight line issues. The driveways lead to parking lots in back, so cars don’t have to back out, reducing sight-line issues further.
  • Street traffic volume: about 3,800 vehicles per day
  • Project page
  • Map
  • Street view

Here’s what the neighborhood looked like before the shared-use path was constructed:


Western Avenue, Westfield, MA

  • 1.4 miles, from Lewellyn Dr. to just past Fairview Ave.
  • 10 foot wide concrete path
  • Most of it runs in front of Westfield State University, only 0.38 miles in front of residential homes
  • In the residential area, houses are set back from the path;
    driveways have no sight-line issues
  • Street traffic volume: probably about 4,000 vehicles per day (feeds into Court St.)
  • Map
  • Street view

Here’s the path as it runs in front of the residential homes:


Damon Road, Northampton, MA

  • 0.6 miles, from rail trail to Lane Plant Rd.
  • 10 foot wide asphalt path
  • Not a residential neighborhood, passes in front of only 3 homes along a 500-foot stretch
  • Path is not replacing a sidewalk — no sidewalk on street before
  • No sight line issues
  • Street traffic volume: about 11,000 vehicles per day
  • Map
  • Street view


Snell Street, Amherst, MA

  • 0.1 miles long
  • 10 foot wide asphalt path
  • Sparse neighborhood; path crosses just 3 driveways
  • Unlikely there was previously a sidewalk
  • Minimal sight line issues; houses set back from path
  • No traffic data available, but the street is a shortcut between Rt. 9 and 116, with enough traffic on it that a roundabout was installed near the path
  • Map
  • Street view


South Main Street, Haydenville, MA


And here is our neighborhood, looking north from Fort Hill Rd. The proposed shared-use path would replace the sidewalk on the right here.
  • 0.4 miles long, from rail trail to library; cost: $2 million
  • 8 foot wide path
  • Thickly-settled residential neighborhood;
    path crosses 19 driveways or handicap ramps
  • Serious sight-line issues for most driveways
  • Street traffic volume: 809 vehicles per day
  • Map
  • Street view



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