I write to express my great disappointment with the signage which has appeared on the new walking/biking trail.
Thanks to what appears to have been the State Highway Administration’s work (perhaps it was not), the trail now appears to be an entrance road to part of the regional highway system: twelve-foot posts (or there about) holding the bright, red stop signs or day-glo, orange symbols indicating the possibility of “peds” (the state’s choice of abbreviation as seen at Washington College’s crossing on route #213) and/or bikers being on the path, for example.
Cannot Chestertown have better: something more in keeping with the historic, cultural nature of the community which still clearly indicates the need for caution and safety along the path?
I hope there are other who will agree.
Edward E. Maxcy
Chestertown
joe diamond says
You’re makin’ em crazy Ed!
Nobody can agree on the historic, cultural nature of this community. Nobody will admit there is a need for caution because that would imply a danger exists.
Could you be more specific with your suggestion?
Joe
Mike says
Looks Tacky
Liz Smith says
I was kind of disappointed to see the trail blacktopped. It’s understandable that maintenance is a concern,but imagine walking on that trail in the heat of summer, especially with a dog. Having spent a bit of time in Bucks Co, Pa where the toe paths along the Delaware River and Canals are of gravel /stone and are very walkable, bikeable and more eco friendly, I was hoping that would have been the choice.
Nevertheless, I think it’s great to have such a path.
kate o'donnell says
Self-appointed Grammar Queen: tow paths as in mules towing the barges on canals, but toe paths are interesting–particularly if you’re wearing toe shoes. I think the blacktop may encourage wheelchair bound trail users. As for bicyclists on gravel, not so much. Going to the ER to have gravel removed from chins, shins and knees — been there done that with various and sundry klutzy kids of mine. Time will tell.
Liz Smith says
I don’t understand the self appointed grammar queen remark? The toe paths are not the ones with mules towing the barges. The stone is well packed and I and many others have ridden many easy miles on them. Have you ever wiped out on black top? A good point about wheelchairs as my 89 year old mother often rides in one. At any rate, I hope the trail will be well travelled for many years to come.
kate o'donnell says
To quote Liz Smith’s first post “in Bucks Co, Pa where the TOE paths along the Delaware River and Canals…” She was alluding to TOW paths. It’s that simple. The rest about TOE shoes was a joke! And I agree completely about the black asphalt being hard on dogs. Several years ago, we attended something at Rock Hall on the harbor and there were a number of unthinking dog owners there whose poor dogs were made to stand for minutes on end in 90 plus degree heat while the owners drank ‘beverages.’ I finally approached one guy and suggested he didn’t understand that his black Cocker had no way to deal with the heat except through the pads of his feet and panting. Since he was already ‘in his cups,’ he didn’t think the dog was in distress!! I was among the first to speak out against allowing dogs on High St. at Tea Party. And as for TOE paths? Hmmmmm….
Liz Smith says
Hi Kate …
Thanks for the Toe / Tow path clarification ! I too have attended the blacktop festivities and share in your concerns about the pooches on the scorching asphalt. You would think people would get it !!!
Brittany McWilliams says
I agree that asphalt was not the right choice for the trail; it is neither aesthetically pleasing or eco-friendly.
kate o'donnell says
The Americans With Disabilities Act ADA compliance cares neither for eco-friendly or aesthetically pleasing, but walk a mile in the shoes of a disabled person and you’ll understand why the asphalt was chosen. Now if we can secure heat proof booties for the poochies (and I have 2 old rescue dogs), we’ll be all set!
Ken Noble says
Good point on the ADA and that asphalt…that could be why it had to be done…..anyone know a reporter who can do a FOIA on this….or was this something that was discussed outside of the Maryland Open Meetings laws?
The ADA may have kicked in at some level of FEDERAL funding, but I am not sure that is what happened here The little section of trail is about 1/25 of what appears as a NETWORK of trails in and around Chestertown in the Transportation Element of the Chestertown Comprehensive Plan. One of those trails would connect the “satellite” Coventry I and II neighborhoods on Flatland road with the rest of town via a pedestrian bridge crossing of upper Radcliffe Creek. Now that might happen in the year 2075, but it may not be possible to put blacktop on all of the trails that were envisioned, ADA notwithstanding.
This is all good everything happening on this trails link here is the part of planning we call “EVALUATION” that is the part after “IMPLEMENTATION”…….it is very rare here that we ever even GET to these last two steps. All of the steps are:
1. Problem Definition 2. Alternate Solutions Generation 3. Alternates Testing and Evaluation (Including alway the “do nothing” alternative…which is mostly what happen here… 4. Alternatives Slelection. 5. Alternative Implementation…in this case, build a trail.
6. Alternates EVALUATION..in this case, kick it all around in THE SPY.
Yeah, ADA..don’t count on it all being ADA…Yellowstone Park is not and Chestertown shouldn’t be either.
Bill Low says
I totally agree with the Letter to Editor. I looked forward to the “trail”, hoped and expected it to become an enhancement to Chestertown. I know a tremendous amount of well-intentioned hard work and money went onto bringing us the trail. Unfortunately, the overkill of large warning signs at the eye level of a bus driver discourages a walker or bicyclist from wanting to use the trail. Shouldn’t the purpose of the path be to encourage visitors and residents to use it rather than avoid it?
I imagine that our laws require warning signs to prevent accidents and indemnify government from suits. However, for a path clearly intended only for walkers and bicyclists, shouldn’t signs fit the purpose? For example, stop signs could be at eye level rather than 12 feet above ground and be 1/4 the size that they currently are. Also, since it is obvious that motor vehicles are not allowed, these signs could be of a size to be read from 20 feet way rather than 100 feet.
Bill Kille says
Ed failed to mention they’ve added another speed bump at the crossing on High Street. Is Chestertown trying to become the speed bump capital of the Eastern Shore? Inquiring minds wanna know……
joe diamond says
Well,
The asphalt idea was a good one! Once the rails were removed there was a well compacted base of crushed stone…………hauled in by the RR that will not be back. But the designers knew that.
What more to make the trail walkable…shoes for doggies?
Joe
Gibson says
Hmmmm, where to start?
Blacktop: Yes, I wish it wasN’T. But having given this a LOT of thought. I concluded that our friends with road bikes would appreciate it. If you’ve ridden a road bike (skinny wheels) on packed gravel you know what I’m talking about. I love the crushed stone paths in Acadia, for example, but we are a great road bike county too and not just a mountain/hybrid bike place. I prefer my hybrid, but the bottom line is that using surfaces other than blacktop starts to make it hard for anything with less-than-knobby wheels. If it were up to aesthetics, I’d go with crushed oyster shells. BTW, I looked into Pervious Concrete, but hitting concrete hurts more than hitting blacktop if you wreck. And, when there was concern about getting the project done at all, it didn’t seem like a good idea to significantly add to the cost.
Regarding the signs, there is hard ground for answering this question. What was in the design/planning that the Town paid for from McCrone? To be honest, I don’t remember the signs being like that, and I’m surprised that I don’t. Having ridden the Cross Island Trail on Kent Island several times, I can’t believe McCrone would have designed that type of signage. McCrone designed the Cross Island Trail. If it’s not in the design work for the Chestertown Trail, then it was probably a decision by someone with the Town. Or the SHA stepped in, as Ed suggests is a possibility, and required them. If so; surprising! Haven’t seen it elsewhere. The McCrone design work was a required part of the process to get the funds released. I can’t believe that anyone that has ridden rail trails elsewhere would have made this type of design decision.
Just to be clear. There is not an active Trail Committee, and no one from that defunct group has been consulted on trail details, to my knowledge.
I’ll apologize in advance if in fact McCrone created a design with those crazy stop signs. I’ll be really surprised.
Steve Payne says
Another possibility is that some of those signs are temporary. Sometimes they will put up obnoxious signs intentionally in order to draw attention to a potential safety issue in a new project. When people are biking on a trail they tend to look around and not pay attention like when they are driving.
The height is sometimes related to a sight line problem. If a crossing is just over a hill then the sign needs to be up high. I’m just guessing but a quick call to the State Highways project manager could determine all this.
Also the asphalt may not get hot if it’s in the shade most of the time.
Chuck Reeser says
I use the trail daily as i live next to it and love it.It gives me and excuse get off my behind and do some cardio work .I have no problem in the design materials etc. Just thankful to Gibson and others who made it come to life…very thankful
Joan Cramer says
Love the path, and grateful to everyone who made it happen, but agree that the signs are kind of a shock. Bizarre and inexplicable.
HC Jones says
I’m just happy the trail is finally here. Nothings perfect.
Carla Massoni says
Yeah!!
kevin walsh says
In Germany, they used recycled plastic bags and bottles to make 3 x 3 walkways and trails…..they last forever…and can be removed.
We could take all the plastic bags we can get and make the walking trail to Worton………but we got oil tar over grass !!!!!
What chemicals were used to make steel for signs????
Ken Noble says
There are valid concerns about this trail all around, but I think we are better off with it than without it. Gibson did a very good job for years getting this going and it may take a volunteer committee to keep it clear and operational. Our SHA District may have been caught a little off guard with respect to the ‘signage” issue, the aesthetics of which Edward Maxcy addresses very wisely. It takes a poet to know it…when something is UGLY. In time, the SHA may be able to take notes from the Anne Arundel County Parks Commission on how to more appropriately sign a trail that traverses neighborhoods and other thoroughfares – as the Baltimore and Annapolis Bikeway does. Washington College needs to kick in with some ramps from their elevated properties to the trail to encourage student and employee use of the trail in place of driving to campus. But, please…no “memorandums of understanding”….capiche? (that’s Italian, Jim).
Good point also about the over engineered speed bumps on Upper High Street. The first thing to point out is that those are not BUMPS, they are HUMPS. The reason that they are HUMPS and not BUMPS is that bumps cause neck injuries and resulting lawsuits. Have you noticed how our Town Manager got the contractors out to re-engineer those humps to more modest geometries? The only reason I can see for the HUMPS at all is that there must have been some neighborhood concern about excessive speed on Upper High Street…so they took the opportunity of a bike path and made huge over engineered HUMPS. But, think about it, there are about 6 “at grade” traffic crossings on the Baltimore and Annapolis Trail between Crofton and BWI each of which has at least 10 times the traffic volume of our quaint Upper High Street and not a one of them even has a hump….or a bump, for that matter. What they do have is the stop sign for the biker/hiker, which basically means “if you are stupid enough to get hit by a car here, YOU cannot sue.” No need for humps or bumps at all, just common sense all around.
By the way, for you long time readers of THE SPY, there is no doubt in MY mind that HUMPS and BUMPS are a clear sign of CENTRAL PLANNING…something you always have to be on the lookout for, you know what I mean?
Extend it Worton and beyond…..Hepbron Station Brick Barn Brewery is awaiting the first biking customer.