Recently, we posted about
pedestrian or alternative transportation. A couple of readers got insulted again about sharing the road and made unrealistic suggestions.
How to get out of our cars -- for exercise or as another means of traveling -- is about more than just sidewalks that don't disappear. It doesn't mean placing sidewalks everywhere they are not currently found.
It's something that requires an inventory of what sidewalks are present, especially along main routes, showing where they are but suddenly end. Then what? Turnaround and go back? Cross the street?
Turning around isn't realistic if you haven't arrived at your destination. So the question becomes "what is the cost of extending this sidewalk" to the point it begins again. Or the question may become "what is the cost of marking a pedestrian crossing" so walkers can
safely cross the street, where the sidewalk may pick up again.
It's also looking at the only current public transportation in the county, Blacksburg Transit, and its availability for Christiansburg residents. Sure, we can ride the Smart Bus to Roanoke -- if we can get to Falling Branch park and ride or the K-mart shopping Center.
It's also looking at existing trailways in the county, and seeing where they are disconnected and figuring out the means and costs for building links.
See Blacksburg Transit schedules and look at the
Christiansburg Two Town Trolley time schedule. Then look at the same for the
Blacksburg Two Town Trolley and other routes a rider can transfer to again to go to other areas within Blacksburg. Imagine you live on Sherwood in Christiansburg, have no car, and have a job opportunity at the Blacksburg Library. You could only work from about 2:30 to 4:30 and still utilize the bus. Same with having a job opportunity in Roanoke, as without the Two Town Trolley and when it finally links you to the
Smart Bus, your window of opportunity is restricted to make this unfeasible.
Or what's the use of saving gas if you have to hire a cab to get to the bus line?
Christiansburg pays a goodly subsidy for the bus to come to town, yet it only hits the county government route instead of going into any populated neighborhoods -- even ones it passes -- doubling back on itself and therefore further restricting ridership. Some have said it only exists to serve VT students who want to shop or pay court fines or need to visit county administrative offices. With tax dollars (the town's and VT's state funding), it should be serving more citizens.
While there is no inventory of where Christiansburg's sidewalks are, where they end and where they jump across the road, there are links to the areas trail systems.
Take a look at the
Blacksburg green way system. Take a look at the
Huckleberry Trail, built and planned.
How about forming a Christiansburg Greenway / Bikeway / Sidewalk / Corridor Committee? This citizen group could work with other groups, including those in Radford and Pulaski, to provide real plans that can be designed with citizen input for council to review, with defined budget needs, timelines, and possible funding sources through federal or state dollars or grants.
One
councilman working on one aspect is a good start, but more hands and dollars are needed. It could link more than neighborhoods. It could also become an element of the town's work with the Virginia Municipal League's
Go Green initiatives.