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"Can't you imagine how great this would be? Isn't this neat?"
Alan Snel can't stop talking about the potential for a bike trail on a beaten-down, makeshift path along the Tampa Bypass Canal.
The Tampa Bay area's leading bicycle advocate is giving me a walking tour along the canal through parts of Temple Terrace's Hilltop Dog Park late on a Friday afternoon (with heavy rains occurring, we've ditched the idea of biking through the area). The only thing the path is missing, he says while walking briskly, is pavement, as we maneuver through the wet, uncut grass blades that blanket much of the park.
But there are a few other obstacles as well, such as fences that cyclists must clamber over, bike in hand. Then there's the dilemma of the bridge off of Harney Road near U.S. 301. Should we walk under it or get up on the road itself, where cars are rolling by at a robust clip?
These are just some of the barriers that Snel hopes to surmount in order to create a bike trail along the Bypass Canal, which runs from New Tampa into the downtown area.
For the full article, visit Creative Loafing Tampa.
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