Alternate routes?

[canalligators]

Hello,

My name is Dale Oswald and I live near Rochester, NY.  I'm an active tourist, solo and with my wife, singles and tandem.  I have the good fortune to live within a mile of the Northern Tier, and regularly host travelling cyclists.

My specific question is: Does the proposed route selection process make provision for alternate routes?  A good example of a use for this would be to provide on- and off-road routes.  Consider our the Erie Canalway trail, the route of the Northern Tier hereabouts.  It has long sections that are nicely improved but unpaved, and NY Bike 5 parallels it for a long distance.  Riders might prefer untrafficed, slower, more scenic trail - or good roads that are faster and perhaps a bit less scenic.   They might elect the unpaved if it's dry and the paved if it's raining.

Do the various agencies have the discretion to create alternante routes through a specific corridor?

Thanks,
Dale

[bobclay99]

I hope that National Bike Route will allow alternate routes.  The Illinois Bike Route 66 has one main western alternate and several advanced shortcuts.  The western alternate serves as parallel route that uses different variations of the Highway 66 that went through different cities.  The advanced shortcuts are those with higher traffic counts (for those willing to put up with more auto traffic) but shorter than the main route.  As more off road trails are built they will eliminate the shortcuts, but the alternate will remain.