Research Update - Cailen Sniker

Hey everyone,

I've been starting my research on the construction methods and locations for the trail by looking at the Bikeville plan in use by Greenville, SC. A lot of this plan provides information on how to develop bike pathways that coincide with major roads, such as bike lanes. There is some guidance on newly-created bike-only paths. This brings up a valid point about our plan, though. Are we going to focus on a bike-only path, shared usage with existing roads, or hybridize in the middle somewhere? My thoughts on each approach below:

Bike-only path: This will provide the shortest distance between Six Mile and Clemson. A path would probably need to be cut through the overlapping areas of Clemson Experimental Forest and any residential areas between Six Mile and the intersection of Old Six Mile Highway and Six Mile Highway (Hwy. 133). From that intersection onward, lake crossings are frequent and to have a bike-only path many bridges would need to be built. Cutting through residential areas and private property brings about property rights issues, and cutting through the experimental forest could bring us into conflict with Clemson University. Also, the terrain around the  lake can be very hilly, so this might discourage users if the ride is too difficult, or incur greater construction costs if the hills are graded down to make them flat.

Road-only path: This will provide the lowest initial construction costs since we can use existing lake crossings and don't need to worry about flattening out hilly areas. However, it will take away from the scenic nature of the trail and it might also make the trail longer than a newly-cut path would be.

Hybrid: I believe this is the best approach. For cost reasons, we almost have to use existing roads once we reach a lake crossing, which there will be many of regardless of how we route the pathway (unless we really make it long and circumnavigate the entire lake). This also prevents property issues assuming we can get the cooperation of whichever level of government controls any particular road. We can still create some brand-new pathways through scenic areas to attract recreational users, and as long as we balance the length of the path with the desire for scenic views, we can hopefully end up with a multi-segmented trail that is in some places just a bike lane on the road and in others a full-fledged newly-cut pathway. We could even consider two bikeways: a "scenic route" through the forest that emphasizes lake views and wilderness, and a "utilitarian route" that simply follows the major roads and is designed to be a no-fuss way to get from Six Mile to Clemson on a bike.

-Cailen Sniker