THIS sidewalk is ESSENTIAL for rural communities
A wide rural sidewalk, shaded in part by a very large pine tree, running along a flowing river, adjacent to a country road. — Photo taken in Eden, Utah.
This super functional design of a wide (roughly 6’) path running along country roads is such an incredible way to connect neighbors, connect rural kids to each other, connect people to their town and to businesses (think, coffee shop). This size is wide enough for two people to walk along next to each other comfortably, with dogs even, and with enough room to move out of the way of oncoming bikes or pedestrians as well. They allow space in rural areas for chance encounters. This connectivity, if done correctly, will also help to limit car traffic in the area since it actually provides citizens with the real option to get somewhere else in another way. It is also a beautiful design in that it can be modified to compliment a town’s specific culture: tall grasses and jack-leg fences can be a western accompaniment while flowers, big shade trees, and white pasture fences can be an eastern design. The photograph above that runs along a full, flowing stream is stunning and encourages
The path can be protected further from traffic with planted berms covered in grass and dotted with aspens. In certain towns (hopefully many), riders on horses would be welcome to enjoy strolls on the paths, bicycles of course, and in other areas, golf carts, …even four-wheelers (rightfully noise-conscious towns could opt for only allowing electric versions!).
A wide sidewalk runs between a country road and a ranch-style jack-leg log fence
A wide sidewalk runs beside a country road and along fenced pastures
Three bikers ride on a wide sidewalk that runs along a road, one biker ahead and a closer couple that is able to pedal side-by-side. On their other side of the sidewalk is a natural brushy area with trees showcasing fall leaves
Below is a gorgeous version of this walking path design. A naturalized grassy berm is situated between the walking path and the nearby neighborhood. Tall grasses nearly make the pathway invisible, which isn’t necessary, however the result is a beautiful, lush field-like space that has been planted with a natural pattern of beautiful trees (aspens, weeping willows, evergreens,…) . A nesting pole for a bird of prey is even incorporated which provides a great asset to the bird, also keeping it from more precarious nesting sites, and provides a great up-close look at nature for passerbys. This easily could have been a neglected roadside like any other but I would argue that what has been developed here is, instead, close to magical.
The only critique I could make is that while the berm protects the private neighborhood residents from road noise and view, which is itself great, it would be better if the path was also protected by the traffic and road noise, either with a second, enclosing berm or by having the one berm located between the road and the path
For context, this roadside path is behind the Dutch Fields neighborhood located in Midway, Utah. Nothing in this design cannot be fully replicated on a budget and by cities and communities all over.
More pictures of this pathway…
By the way, when I looked the neighborhood up on Google Earth to see if there was more to know about it, I noticed that not only was this path beautiful but they had a great center median of trees at the entrance of the neighborhood. This is quite rare these days so I figured if they had the design sense for both the path and the entrance, maybe they had nice designs inside the neighborhood as well. My suspicion was correct (The photo to the right is what I uncovered just past the entrance alley of trees…stunning!), I’ve included a gallery of screenshots below for more design inspiration I found in this neighborhood!
…I truly think every neighborhood should have at least one pond of some size in it for residents and their kids, and this neighborhood has great ones!
It is important to note that in some other countries, communities will use the actual roads and sides of the road to walk on, and for kids to play on, and they do this just fine and relatively safely. This, unfortunatley, is not the best solution for most communities in the U.S. (without a massive redesign) because car travel here is so universal, with many roads being ‘collector’ in design, and with our services and destinations being so spread out, that generally, American car traffic in rural areas will very often be higher than many urban areas in other countries. And with the expectation, generally, of far less people walking on the road, drivers are less likely to expect walkers and cyclists on our roads. Both of these factors make it much more dangerous to only offer roads as a walking path. In addition, Americans are so used to driving that without a proper walking path, many people are likely to hop in their cars without even considering that the distance is walkable, especially so if there is no clear safe path to walk to their town center.
