Rails to Trails
In 1972 bicycles outsold automobiles by 2 million.Carlton Reid, Bike Boom, pg 138 City planners as well as state and federal departments of transportation were studying cycle-infrastructure—interconnected networks to help the cyclist get somewhere. The broad overview included protected bike lanes, shared roadways (with bike logos painted on the street tarmac or other signage), or cycle ways much like expressways. Also, introducing, the Rail to Trail. In the early 1970s sitting at home in Centerville, Ohio I was reading about the Elroy-Sparta, the granddaddy of Rail Trails. This 32-mile recreational trail opened in 1967. Abandoned tracks littered the American landscape. At the height of industrialization between 1860 – 1900, there were 132 distinct railroads. In Illinois, Abraham Lincoln was hired to defend two different railroads, one involved the Illinois Central Railroad and the other was the Rock Island Line, both now defunct. Today, as the result of mergers, bankruptcies...