These connectors would funnel various types of trail users onto 4 foot wide paved surfaces immediately adjacent to the roadways. The accident rate on bicycle paths is more than twice that of roadways. Multi-use trails are, on average, even more hazardous for cyclists. Since these trail connectors are planned to be on the roadway shoulders, users would have to cross vehicle lanes at each junction.
Junctions are where the great majority of collisions occur.
The routing of these multi-use trails through the junctions of those commuter routes would create one of the most dangerous facilities for bicycling in the area. The Tarwheels Bicycle Club has been asked to also support the plan. I strongly recommend that cyclists and their clubs decline to support the plan until it is rewritten to include improvements for easier and more convenient cycling on the roadways. Finding viable methods to reduce traffic and congestion Travel Demand Management - into and out of the Research Triangle Park is a No.1 concern for employers, commuters and regional elected officials. The study also asserts all three of these roads can be up-fitted for bicycle transportation by widening the paved shoulders to 4 feet.