Both drivers and trail users need to stop at intersections
By Mike Lynch
The question of who has the right-of-way at road crossings along the Adirondack Rail Trail arose recently, including on a Facebook page for Saranac Lake.
To get a better idea of trail etiquette and the rules, the Explorer sought clarification from the state Department of Environmental Conservation, state Department of Transportation, police, and Department of Motor Vehicles, and biking enthusiasts.
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Here what we found:
1. Both drivers on the public roads and the trail users bear some responsibility for safety, although ultimately motorists are required to stop for pedestrians at crosswalks, which occur at public road crossings along the trail. Pedestrians are people who are walking or in a wheelchair. To be considered a pedestrian, a person must be walking alongside their bike, not riding it. People riding bikes need to follow traffic rules and wait for traffic to clear before crossing the road.
2. Users of the Adirondack Rail Trail are required to stop at intersections with roads, where they should survey traffic for oncoming vehicles. (There are stop signs here.) This is where a person could dismount from their bike and walk alongside it to cross the road.
3. Once motor vehicles have passed or stopped, rail trail users may cross the road.
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4. Once the rail trail user has crossed the road, motor vehicles should then proceed.
5. There are signs several hundred feet from trail crossings to alert drivers to be on the alert for pedestrians, cyclists and other users.
(Editor’s note: This article was updated to define pedestrians. The update also includes information that states bike riders need to follow the rules of the road and are only considered pedestrians if they are walking alongside their bike. )
I cant believe the rail trailer was paved in sections which will limit to how long snow may stay on trailer. Dirty pool!
Trail, not trailer…
It amazes me how many people in SL don’t understand how to use a crosswalk. Pedestrians have been getting bashed in the SL Facebook page for not yielding to motor vehicles and called “entitled” for using a crosswalks the way they are designed. Meanwhile, drivers don’t even stop half the time at marked crosswalks on Broadway but people will jay-walk anywhere they want, even if a crosswalk is 10 feet away from them. The crazy thing is that motorists stop for these people! Did they fail to teach you guys these basics in school or something?
This is ubiquitous now. Pedestrians are also often staring at their phone. Evolution is a slow process.
Bravo!
There are a million opinions on this subject apparently, but one suggestion worth noting is that it would be wise to move the speed limit sign at the big crossing going towards Lake Placid to the other side of the trail. As it stands, drivers can speed up to 45mph right before the crossing and those entering SL don’t have to reduce their speed to 30mph until they have crossed the trail crossing.
Hopefully someone responsible catches this and makes the change. Motorists need enough time to react and 15mph can make a difference when there is a 5 year old trying to cross this big crossing.
Also, let’s be very clear. If you are on a bicycle of any sort, you are a moving vehicle and must stop at every road crossing. If you get off and walk it, then you are a pedestrian. Let’s hope no one gets hit and that’s what will happen if cyclists just ride like they are a pedestrian. So be aware old people on e-bikes, run the stop sign and you will get hit. Old Forge is flooded with these people.
Old People?? Really! Sheezeh
Would be nice to have a flashing light and you push the button so cars stop. Much safer. That is what they do in Florida. But still looking forward to biking this trail!
Some places use a light switch that the user trips while APPROACHING the crosswalk. It isn’t to STOP the driver, but alert them to a potential stop and to take care.
The pix posted oddly do not show snowmobiles. Shouldn’t there be signage for winter users as well? In winter, road conditions and visibility can be bad, and that is when snowmobiles are more likely using the trail.
Part of the dirty little plan.
yes, “not a step” on the top rung of a ladder and “don’t drink the battery acid” and “dont let a car or truck hit you while crossing the road” are all so very important RULES in today’s world. smfh. BTW, in the other state I live in, this ‘CARs MUST STOP before hitting a person’ mantra has been around for decades and has produced the 10 year old not even looking as he whizzes by on his bike because he has the “right of way”.
Bicyclist are not pedestrians. Bicyclist should be following the rules of the road when traveling!!! Bicyclist when riding roadways need to know that single file is proper way to be traveling not 2 a breast impeding the flow of traffic
Sad that the former rail corridor was totally dismantled. The crossing gate electrical systems could have been possibly modified for crosswalk and even stop and go lights at major intersections like Fowlers Route 86 crossing. Lack of forethought and planning on this issue in my humble opinion.
Sad that the former rail corridor was totally dismantled. The crossing gate electrical systems could have been possibly modified for crosswalk and even stop and go lights at major intersections like Fowlers Route 86 crossing. Lack of forethought and planning on this issue in my humble opinion.
Excellent point. Part of the reason could be to get rid of the typically necessary generator backup that is found at most RR crossing guards. Likely some DOT reasons that may confuse drivers at ACTUAL RR crossings, but one would think removing the bar and replacing the lights with flashing yellow or blue lights when a user is approaching the road could work. But new electronic/solar signage with flashing LED strobes could certainly be installed either at the crossing or on approach – especially at 55 mph crossings.
I know this article was about rail trail riding…but it does involve interacting with MVs. When I’m on my road bike, the last thing I’m thinking about is, who has the right of way. Moot point. In any “altercation” between a bike and MV, the bike will lose. Therefore, I always ride like “they are out to get me”. High vis clothing, lights front and back, riding on the right as per DMV law, an eye on the front passenger tire of vehicles approaching me (over, close, or heading towards the white line?) and a rear view mirror so I can keep an eye out for the wide, swaying vehicles and the vehicles hauling something wider than their vehicle.
Study’s have shown that is safer for bicyclists to treat a Stop signs as a Yield. Several states have enacted laws that allow bicyclists to treat stop signs as a yield. In Delaware, “Traffic crashes involving bicyclists at stop sign intersections fell by 23% in the 30 months after the law’s passage, compared to the previous 30 months”. See US Dept. of Transportation’s “Bicyclists Stop-As-Yield Fact Sheet”: https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/2022-03/Bicyclist-Yield-As-Stop-Fact-Sheet-032422-v3-tag.pdf.
I think the paved section through town should have a yellow line down the middle. It is a great path and already highly used even before the busy summer months.
They should’ve pulled the rails out all the way from Big Moose station. Then the area’s economy would have visitor traffic $$ IMHO…. Plus saved the wild expense of the rebuild of the RR tracks. Oh well back room deals SOP NYS
Leave the rails and save the train, it is part of the history of the area and should stay. None of the rails should have been removed.
The article was updated to state “bike riders … are only considered pedestrians if they are walking alongside their bike”. I believe this is incorrect.
Vehicle and Traffic Law 130 states “Pedestrian. Any person afoot or in a wheelchair” (see https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/VAT/130).
Many cyclists can walk their bike with both feet on the ground while straddling the top tube. This too would seem to meet the definition of a pedestrian.
The DEC (State of New York) should be placed on notice and Maybe the state should install pedistrian bridges across the several highways to also be used bicyclist like they do in Texas (Austin, Houston, San Antonio) and Florida (Maimi & I95 at Sebastian) before someone gets hurt or there is a fatality.
This adds a myriad of crosswalks in downtown Saranac Lake alone. If this is as popular as some hope it will really be a mess on the roads in SL. So you stop for someone at the first crossing on pine street extension, then the next on pine street. Then the next crossing on bloomingdale ave. then another on broadway.. These are all within probably a half-mile.