| 474 | Music City Bikeway | 2011-09-04 |
Last spring at the Earth Day Celebration we had heard about the Music City Bikeway. The passageway was supposed to connect several greenways and parks in town. We were most interested in the section connecting Richland Creek Greenway to Warner Parks.
Months passed and our vacations interrupted our hopes for the Bikeway being completed. Then, while driving 70S toward Bellevue we noticed two new traffic signals and a sign, indicating "Music City Bikeway."
The next time we were in the area we drove the section of the Music City Bikeway that follows Post Road. The road had been repaved with narrow bike lanes on each side and signage indicating the route.
At home we researched the Bikeway and found a map. The site's page had not been updated in a while; but it gave an overall concept of the route. We decided that Sunday we would ride a section of the Bikeway.
Starting in the morning with little traffic, we went from our home in the Hillsboro Village area to Centennial Park, through the Park to Charlotte Ave. The major thoroughfare had been repaved also with designated bike lanes.
Soon we were at the Bicentennial Mall, our destination. It was a fun ride. On Sunday morning there was no traffic; but still the bike lanes give a sense of belonging to the rider. They are not sharing the roadway, they have a bike lane of their own.
The Bikeway is not complete; but the signs of progress are positive for bicyclists.
Community Garden
A few Music City Bikeway notes ...
We did not ride the entire path; but hope to soon.
A map of the proposed path is at Music City Bikeway.
We were originally hoping that the Bikeway would have been a path instead of a lane; but are still pleased that there is a lane and traffic considerations.
Post Road project is completed. There are shared road sections at either end of the road near White Bridge and 70. The rest of the road has bike lanes and route signage.
We turned off Charlotte Ave onto 16th Ave as indicated on the Bikeway map; but the signed bike lane continued toward town on Charlotte.
Going away from town, the lanes continued to where the bridge on Charlotte crossed the railroad tracks (before 440).
The rest of the Bikeway seemed incomplete.
Charlotte was a very fast ride toward town (downhill); but there was a lot of loose gravel in the bike lane.
The route along Jo Johston Ave had huge bumps.
There was a great community garden on Jo Johnston.
On the return we rode to McCabe Park and the Richland Creek Greenway and did not see any more work on the Bikeway.
We enjoyed the ride. It was Sunday morning; but the ride seemed safe and at an easy grade - even on the uphills. Thumbs up for this one!!!
Happy Music City Bikeway trails