Plans make Charleston, WV more bike-friendly (South Charleston: price, rail, design)

[cry_havoc]

Some improvements could arrive soon. Indeed, dual bike lanes for the Boulevard are already on the drawing board. But other changes will take time and money, and maybe a new attitude among motorists who seem to feel they own the streets, the consultants say.

I hope Charleston does this.

[Silkdashocker]

Sounds like leaders in Charleston are finally getting on board the national trend of inner city biking.

[cry_havoc]

Originally Posted by Silkdashocker

Sounds like leaders in Charleston are finally getting on board the national trend of inner city biking.

Well they are just plans right now. I hope they become more.

[Silkdashocker]

Me too. Biking is a quickly growing trend almost everywhere. So many benefits from it as well.

[cry_havoc]

Originally Posted by Silkdashocker

Me too. Biking is a quickly growing trend almost everywhere. So many benefits from it as well.

Charleston is a good place to bike on the streets too. A lot of it is flat.

[Chriscross309]

A big part of this will be rails for trails through the West Side and East End

[elewis7]

In Design - Bike Lanes on the Boulevard from Patrick Street to Magic Island, On-pavement marked shared bike loop on Virginia and Quarrier
Planned - Trestle trail - CSX rail to trail from South Charleston across the Kanawha River trestle, through the West Side, over the Elk on the Whipple trestle, past the Capitol Market all the way to 35th, across the bridge, and down Kanawha Ave SE and MacCorkle SW back to SC.
Proposed - Elk River loop from confluence to Whipple trestle, and a trail from Capitol St. to Coonskin

NeighboorWoods Map

[elewis7]

Also a quick note on the Kanawha River Trestle - there's still a lot of resistance to the project thanks to the higher-than-anticipated price tag (around $20 mil instead of a few mil). However, I've heard that the $20 mil figure was for the entire built-out project with "all the bells and whistles." The cost to replace/refurbish (not sure which) the superstructure into a usable path is somewhere around $5 mil or so. The City, however, does not want to acquire the bridge right now due to their unwillingness to take on the liability. Also, it's not Danny Jones' fault, apparently.

[aeros71]

Wasn't there rumblings several months ago about the bridge piers being in bad shape below the water line?

[Chriscross309]

Honestly, an expanded deck on the Patrick Street bridge would do the same thing as the trestle bridge would, it just would't be as flashy!