Trail Maintenance and Operation - Rails-to-Trails Conservancy

ACCESS CONTROL
Most trails are open to a multitude of uses, and
primarily rely on users to practice proper trail etiquette
to control their speed, direction and position on the
trail. In some instances, mainly in high-volume areas,
it may be necessary to take stricter measures to control
users by direction or mode of travel. For example, a
center stripe may be painted to help separate users by
direction, or an adjacent path may be created for
equestrians. Twenty-nine percent of trails use signs for
this purpose, 10 percent use pavement markings, and
10 percent use a different surface material.
Another common issue for trails is controlling
access by motor vehicles. One-third of the trails report
problems with trespassing, mostly in the form of
illegal ATV access. While ATVs, by their very nature,
can access the trail from just about anywhere, it is still
advantageous to control major access points. In this
case, control means making access as safe and easy as
possible for legitimate users while barring unauthorized
vehicles. This is typically accomplished by
placement of some type of impediment that bicyclists
and pedestrians can navigate, but motor vehicles
cannot. The impediment generally locks in some
fashion so it can be unlocked by patrol and maintenance
staff. There are a number of designs to meet this
need, and a vast amount of discussion on the relative
merits of each.
Little Miami Scenic
Trail, Ohio (Ed Dressler)
The following access control mechanisms were
reported:
Side-opening gate 45%
Removable bollards 31%
Fixed bollards 30%
Other 18%
Center-opening gate 10%
Noteworthy in the “other” category were flexible
bollards, gate-bollard combinations and rocks, although
it is unclear how the latter would permit
sufficient emergency or maintenance access.
For mechanisms that lock, someone has to be able
to unlock them. The following persons or agencies are
typically provided with trail access:
Fire/police/EMS 88%
Park/trail staff 80%
Volunteers 48%
Utility employees 25%
Adjacent property owners 19%
Railroad employees 2%
Other 1%
Left and right: Hudson River Greenway, N.Y. (Boyd Loving)
18 • RAIL-TRAIL MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS