Pros and cons of adding a paved bike trail to Central Park

Pros 1 & 2

1. A bicycle trail would provide bicyclists with a scenic, off-road experience. (Note P1)

2. A bicycle trail would provide bike riders with direct off-road access to the River Valley Trail. (Note P2)

Notes for Pros

(P1) It should be kept in mind when appraising this benefit that widening the existing trail to accommodate bikes will do much to destroy the scenic beauty of the Nine Mile Creek Corridor. Thus the objective of providing a scenic bikeway will be compromised from the onset.

(P2) It should be kept in mind when weighing this benefit that Lyndale Avenue provides access to the river valley trail system and is only a short distance to the east of the Nine Mile Creek Corridor. Creating a bicycle-only lane along Lyndale would bring bicyclists more directly to the river trails and the 35W bridge. Shortening the distance to the bridge would be beneficial because it provides access to existing trails on the Burnsville side of the river, and will therefore be a destination for many cyclists.

Cons, continued

3. A bicycle trail, if blacktopped, will be a source of thermal pollution and exacerbate temperature fluctuations within the creek. Such fluctuations profoundly impact aquatic ecosystems by stressing and eliminating species, including keystone and other highly valued species (e.g., trout). (Notes C1 & C2)

4. A blacktopped bicycle trail will be a source of air pollution. In particular, the trail will release small particulates into the air. Such particulates are released in appreciable quantities and are known to have significant effects on public health. See Peeyush Khare et al. Asphalt-related emissions are a major missing nontraditional source of secondary organic aerosol precursors. Science Advances (6) 2020. DOI:10.1126/sciadv.abb9785. (Note C1)

Cons, continued

7. Construction of a bicycle trail will necessitate disrupting and killing wildlife.

8. Widening the existing trail to accommodate cyclists will promote the spread of invasive and exotic species. (Notes C1, C2, & C3)

9. A shared-use bicycle trail will endanger trail users. Most serious bicyclists have learned from experience that the risks of colliding with dogs, children, and distracted pedestrians makes the use of shared trails dangerous. Research supports this assessment. For example, one shared-use study conducted in 2005 found that 6% of surveyed trail users had collided with another user or fallen while trying to avoid a collision. Several additional studies have demonstrated that off-road shared-use trails have incident and injury rates significantly higher than those associated with on-road cycling. See, for example, some of the research performed and cited by Altman-Hall. (Note C4)

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Image: Blackpoll warbler photographed in the  Nine Mile Creek Corridor. Conservation biologists have documented alarming population declines among Neotropical migrants, which are due principally to habitat loss. For these birds, it is important to protect migratory stopover feeding and resting sites as well as breeding habitat. By Brian Wolff.

Cons, continued

11. Bicycle traffic would do direct harm to sentient organisms and inflict suffering on morally relevant “others.” It is not only common, but normal to see dead frogs, snakes, chipmunks, and other vertebrates on bicycle paths. In most instances, these animals are not immediately killed when run over. They die slowly. There is a tendency to underestimate the pain and suffering cyclists inflict because the victims of cycling commonly go unobserved. They drag themselves from the trail before dying or are carried away by scavengers.

Ethicists have progressively widened the sphere of moral relevancy to encompass women, minorities, the members of other religions, the poor, the mentally challenged, and those that do not conform to social norms. This process is ongoing and logic demands that it will not end until this simple fact is universally recognized: It’s not religion, wealth, gender, race, intelligence, social conformity, or species that makes an individual the proper subject of moral concern. It is sentience. If an individual can experience pain and suffer, its treatment is morally relevant and should not be discounted. (Note C5)

Cons, continued

13. The construction of a bicycle trail would be inconsistent with previous promises made by city and state officials. Some of these promises have been explicitly stated, such as a 1970s promise to return trout to Nine Mile Creek, and the 1992 promise, by then Governor Arne Carlson, to make the Minnesota River fishable and swimmable in ten years. Other promises made are implicit in the actions pursued by city, state, and federal officials and codified by the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, Wetland Conservation Act, and other regulatory measures. Environmental regulations, which impose restrictions and costs on the public, have received wide support from residents only because there is an implied promise to protect our environment and biological treasures. Anytime government involves itself in land development, does harm to our waterways, and erodes biodiversity in pursuit of non-vital public interests, it violates the public’s trust. Nine Mile Creek and the Minnesota River fail to meet minimum water quality standards and as long as this is the case, the promises to protect our natural resources should preclude city officials from supporting any and all nonessential projects destined to worsen existing conditions.

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Image: Trout fishermen and women are no longer seen along Nine Mile Creek because the trout that once inhabited the watershed have been extirpated. Streams are seldom destroyed by massive projects. They are incrementally degraded and biologically impoverished by thousands of small projects. By Brian Wolff.