CO River Access

[Gary Knowels]

Sounds good and I'd love to see it, but what would determine the min-max distance between or another criteria for siting of the pedestrian crossings?

I say "reasonable foot access" maybe any stretch with 5+ miles without any other access? Maximum distance between crossings would become 10 miles. Just spitballing and I'd have to map it out to see if that is reasonable. How do you feel about that distance?

 

[albula]

That sure limits it to a small percentage of the folks who would fish it if you have to potentially hike 10 miles to get in and out.

 

[Brian Miller]

I say "reasonable foot access" maybe any stretch with 5+ miles without any other access? Maximum distance between crossings would become 10 miles. Just spitballing and I'd have to map it out to see if that is reasonable. How do you feel about that distance?

I researched a similar issue due to the problem with the access I previously mentioned that I had lost. What's reasonable-usable depends on:
Where would I park my car?
Where's the closest road that crosses the tracks?
Where are my favorite sections on the stream?
If the tracks parallel the stream (they often run along streams) can I walk along the stream without being within the RR right of way?
Is there a hiking-biking trail?
Is the property adjacent to the RR right of way private? posted? (if the access across the tracks generates traffic on private land, rest assured it will be posted sooner than later.)
How far am I willing to walk-ride a bike?
Can I camp along the river?
How high-steep are the river bank along the tracks?

Along with that series of questions, how many trackside "points of interest" are along a line that the RR must provide pedestrian crossings for?
Will pedestrian traffic cause a risk of damage to the tracks and do crossings require more frequent track inspections and maintenance?
Does that increase costs for passengers and freight customers and what does that do to Customer retention?

It's not a simple problem.

 

[Snopro]

It does have a simple solution. It should be legal to cross tracks, from public property to public property, anywhere. No reason to make things complicated with other qualifications.

We learn how to look both ways before crossing the street in elementary school. Train tracks are equally simple.

 

[_WW_]

Apologies in advance for not staying on the exact subject but two things slightly related that have been bothering me recently are railroads and irrigation development. Both prevent public access to the river, generally a public resource. They disrupt access to a public resource that is put in place for their private gain. They should be mitigating these effects. For example, an irrigation district on the Yakima has blocked the entire river but doesn't allow passage for boaters. Along Old Highway 10, many of the river access points have been blocked off, presumably by the railroad (as safety measure for not crossing the tracks) which I get. But cutting off miles of access to a public river? I say remove the law prohibiting crossing the tracks and if someone gets hit by train, don't blame the railroad.

In my opinion, railroads that block access to property by the public because of their "no crossing the tracks" rule should pay property taxes on that land at the very government friendly residential rate. I think they would change their rule before dark.

 

[O' Clarkii Stomias]

I can't understand why those greedy rail tycoons don't want the public trespassing on their right of ways?

 

[Brian Miller]

CO State Supreme Court declined to decide the question, so wading a river flowing through private property is still prohibited.

 

[Salmo_g]

CO State Supreme Court declined to decide the question, so wading a river flowing through private property is still prohibited.

Hah! Let me take a wild azz guess here that one or more members of the CO Supreme Court are members of private fishing clubs that have leases to fish water on certain prime pieces of private land. If you don't own it outright in CO, that's how you get to fish prime water.

 

[_WW_]

CO Supremes have been fairly bought and paid for by Texans