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Farmington advisory committee debates speed limits and striping on multiuse trails
Summary
Members of Bike Walk Farmington debated whether to post speed limits and stripe multiuse trails, emphasizing education and pilots rather than enforcement. Concerns included trail width, e‑bikes, signage and whether striping makes trails feel like roads.
At a meeting of the Bike Walk Farmington advisory committee, members spent the bulk of their discussion debating whether to post advisory speed limits and paint centerlines on the town’s multiuse trails. The debate centered on safety, the physical width of many older trail segments, and how much of the initiative should be education rather than enforcement.
Bruce Donald, Southern New England manager for the East Coast Greenway Alliance and chair of the Connecticut Greenways Council, said signage and striping can improve trail etiquette but should be applied selectively. "Posting a speed limit is essentially a suggestion for proper etiquette," Donald said, adding that striping makes sense on wider, high‑volume segments but is inappropriate on narrower 8–9‑foot sections where a center line could create hazards.
Ron Goralski, cochair of Bike Walk Farmington CT, urged caution: "I'd like us to just pump the brakes a little bit and maybe do some more research," he said, calling for trials and analysis before recommending townwide striping or speed signs. Neil Kelsey, a long‑time committee member, warned that continuous striping risks making trails feel like roads: "It creates problems where people are going to cross that line ... and it puts me at risk of being yelled at by somebody coming on, walking or whatever," he said.
Members discussed practical thresholds and guidance used elsewhere. Donald cited AASHTO practice noting wider trails (about 11 feet or more) are better candidates for striping and suggested striping/intersection pavement markings as lower‑risk first steps. Committee members also flagged the growth of e‑bikes and uncertainty over how they are operated and regulated, with Donald noting broader state and national conversations about e‑bike rules.
There was no formal vote on policy. The committee agreed to gather more data, consider pilot trials on selected trail segments, and develop educational signage and markings (icons and short etiquette reminders) as a first step before recommending townwide striping or enforceable speed limits.
The committee will continue the conversation at a future meeting and track nearby towns’ pilots (Avon plans to post 15 mph), as well as any state guidance or studies that evaluate outcomes of striping and posted advisory speeds.
