the State of New York under the Side Path Law / compiled by New York State Division, League of American Wheelmen ; drawn by Walter M. Meserole
https://collections.lib.uwm.edu/digital/collection/agdm/id/2587 for an interactive zoomable map
Charles Raymond, a Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute-trained engineer and founding member of the Lockport Wheelmen, with a radical yet pragmatic idea: instead of waiting for expensive, politically contentious road reform, what if cyclists built their own dedicated paths alongside existing roads?
in 1892, when Niagara County cyclists raised private funds to construct one of the nation’s first purpose-built bicycle facilities: a 12-mile crushed-stone sidepath from Lockport to Olcott Beach on Lake Ontario. Far from a simple dirt track, the path incorporated thoughtful engineering, with graded surfaces for smooth riding, drainage ditches and culverts to manage water runoff, and carefully tested surfacing materials that proved durable under repeated use.
Recognizing that volunteer labor and private donations alone could not sustain expansion, Raymond took an unprecedented step: he drafted legislation. In 1896, New York State passed a law authorizing Niagara County to create a Sidepath Commission to raise funds by taxing bicycles to keep building out the network.
Other counties took note, and momentum accelerated with the statewide enabling legislation in 1899, signed by Gov. Theodore Roosevelt, which created the first statewide framework for dedicated bicycle infrastructure in the United States.
The New York cities of Rochester and Niagara, as well as Minnesota’s Minneapolis and St. Paul, each built hundreds of miles of these hard-surfaced paths.
Sidepaths multiplied county by county, growing from short recreational segments into connected regional corridors. Cyclists paid small annual fees for sidepath licenses, creating a dedicated, if ultimately fragile, funding stream. Engineering standards spread rapidly, construction costs dropped through economies of scale and counties competed enthusiastically to report new mileage at annual conventions.
By 1901, New York State boasted more than 2,000 miles of sidepaths, the most extensive bicycle path network in the nation.
Riders could travel from village streets to rural highways, from industrial towns to scenic destinations and, remarkably, from Brooklyn all the way to Niagara Falls on nearly continuous bicycle infrastructure
https://www.railstotrails.org/trailblog/history-happened-here-sidepaths-and-the-persistent-dreams-of-trail-building/https://bikebattles.net/2018/01/finding-sidepaths/ includes PDFs of Sidepaths magazine
Sidepaths multiplied county by county, growing from short recreational segments into connected regional corridors. Cyclists paid small annual fees for sidepath licenses, creating a dedicated, if ultimately fragile, funding stream. Engineering standards spread rapidly, construction costs dropped through economies of scale and counties competed enthusiastically to report new mileage at annual conventions.
By 1901, New York State boasted more than 2,000 miles of sidepaths, the most extensive bicycle path network in the nation.
Riders could travel from village streets to rural highways, from industrial towns to scenic destinations and, remarkably, from Brooklyn all the way to Niagara Falls on nearly continuous bicycle infrastructure
six issues of the Sidepaths magazine: from volume 3 (1900), numbers 22, 23, and 24, and from volume 4 (1901), numbers 2, 3, and 4 are known to exist.
These issues are collected in the U.S. Department of Transportation headquarters library, under call number GV1040 .S53 1901.
1901 issue of Good Roads remarked of side paths: "The cycle paths of Albany, Rochester, Minneapolis, Seattle and Spokane have done more to keep alive the fraternal feeling among cyclists and to boom the bicycle trade in those cities than any other issue elsewhere."
Of course, you know how this turns out. The dawn of the motor age quickly arrived. Bicycles, as well as trolleys, were overtaken. And the side path law was repealed.
As with any fad, interest in bicycling for the general public began to decline and by 1903 there was no longer enough money for repair and maintenance from sales of side path badges.
A 1917 edition of that Albany guide book -- the one that had reported thousands of bicycles in Albany in 1900 -- said of the city's once multiple bicycle clubs: "These all now are practically out of existence."
A 1917 edition of that Albany guide book -- the one that had reported thousands of bicycles in Albany in 1900 -- said of the city's once multiple bicycle clubs: "These all now are practically out of existence."
By 1964, Secretary Stewart Udall’s Department of the Interior was promoting trails, paths, lanes and routes under that catch-all term. The next year, Udall commissioned the study that would eventually produce the Trails for America report, calling for new hiking trails and bikeways. “To avoid crossing motor vehicle traffic,” said the report, “bikeways would be located along landscaped shoulder areas on frontage roads next to freeways and expressways, along shorelines, and on abandoned railroad rights-of-way,” or “along quiet back streets and alleys.” It was a fine idea, but there wasn’t a lot of federal money available. While some bikeways were built, it wasn’t until later decades that “rail-trails” emerged out of the list of suggested bikeway locations as the more successful model.
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