A Ride Back from Mill End Fabrics
Channel: Lufi Feats
Date: 17/05/2023

I had a brief conversation with Hans from Public Works about improvements to the public access easement at the National Auto Museum on my way back from the fabric store. They're going to be doing a study of the entire corridor.

It's hard to hear due to wind and environment noise, but I asked, specifically, if the they would remove trees next to the path along the riverbed to widen the path and build a retaining wall, and he said yes, pointing out a tree off behind me; however, this includes all the trees, not just one. This confirmed earlier reports I received that the city is considering having the bike path "overhang" the river. When I explained that the auto museum's fence was built halfway through the easement, he seemed to dismiss this by explaining a short portion with a concrete wall was already built and that the new fence erected along the entire length of the easement did not alter the narrow path. I argued that it did alter it, because whereas the asphalt path was indeed narrow, the fence caused the edge of the path useless, thereby effectively reducing the width down to 4 feet. The bike path has been made trapped narrow by the new fence.

Earlier I stated that the city was "in the process" of obtaining permits to make changes to the greenbelt, but it appears I jumped the gun, and it is merely something they would have to do. But the fact they are even considering chopping down trees to widen a path greatly concerns me.

I tried to offer an alternative proposal to all of this: use the north side of the river to have a proper-width bike path that crosses the river by way of a pedestrian/bike foot bridge. Avoid the legal hassle! Improve the area rather than entering a conflict with a private property owner!