Saturday 10 July 2021

A New Walk

There is a long-term project going on in my town to create a 5 km long park area all the way through the city, by connecting existing parks with new green areas and footpaths along the river. The idea is for people to be able to walk from one end of the town to the other, along the river and through parks, without traffic. It will take years before it's all finished; but they're working on it. 

 
(I've mentioned this before, about a year ago, in a post named Walk a Mile in my Shoes.
On the map, I live in the vicinity of 5, and the city park is at 8/9.
)

This summer, they have been working on creating one new passage along the water, under a motorway bridge. Back in mid June, the work was still going on:


Yesterday, I found that the new footbridge under the overpass had been opened, and people were walking there. So I did, too.

Left: Seen from the south side. Right: Seen from the north side.
 

For me, this enables me to walk in park-like environment and close to the water almost all the way into the city centre now - except that I do still have to cross three streets on the way. Cross one street, then walk across the old cemetery. Cross another street, then follow a footpath along the river, including that new underpass. Cross a third street, and then through the town park to the city centre.

14 comments:

  1. we have one of these, only about 4 or 5 miles along the river, it also has a walking bridge under a highway. this is really nice to be able to cross the city in a beautiful enviroment. ours is only for walking, there are no shops or places business, just a few condo buildings that people live in. it has no use other than beautiful walk

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    1. That sounds good, Sandra. It will be many years yet before the whole "vision" of our long park will be fulfilled, as it also includes building new "green" walk-bridges across several major roads etc. But I'm happy with the parts of it that I can already enjoy...

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  2. It always gives me a sense of satisfaction to know the routes by which one can walk through a city avoiding the noise and the traffic.

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  3. This is a grand plan as it encourages people to walk and enjoy your town and area. We are also in the midst of building a trail in our city, a wide path for walkers and bicyclists along an unused railway track.

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    1. Terra, it seems that city planners have begun to (again?) realize the importance of green areas in the cities and not just plan for cars...

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  4. You must have great cardiac health!!

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    1. Ginny, please note that the part I usually walk is only a little bit in the middle... ;)

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  5. I‘ve said it before - your town really seems like a good place to live.
    Walk-friendly areas finally get recognised as being very important for life quality, unlike the past decades since after the war, when most city planning revolved around the car.

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    1. Meike, in one of the speeches held for the town's 400th anniversary, the fact was mentioned that for the 350th anniversary, they built a motorway through town (really a case of terrible planning). Now, 50 years later, they're building park...

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  6. More places to walk are always needed, I would be definitely walking over that old cemetery.

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    1. Amy, I've been walking along, across or around that old cemetery almost daily for 13 years now (i.e. as long as I've been living close to it) For one thing I need to pass it to walk into town, but I also often go there "just for a walk" :)

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  7. That looks like progress and very welcome progress too.

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    1. Graham, this part of the city planning I do appreciate... In the past, there were industries along the river, and not many parts of it were accessible to the public. They're making up for that now by creating and linking footpaths along the water almost all the way through town.

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