trails manual section6

8/14/2019 Trails Manual Section6

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Hard Surface Multiple Use Trails

Mileage and Directional SignsThese informational signs are designed to both complement and contrast highway-style regulatory signs.Use of the County standard fonts and colors helps promote the identity of County Trails while creatingattractive and distinctive signs.

Specifications for Mileage and Directional Signs

Location of Mileage Signs

Mileage signs should be placed near the trailheads and every 0.25 kilometers for traveled distance marking.Mileage signs are an advantage to all fitness users who can note their distance traveled by recording thestarting mileage marker and the ending marker.Each mileage sign will have the trail name and distances to use as a locator for emergency personnel shouldan emergency arise. These signs not only serve to give mileage but also to inform users of possibledestinations and thereby encourage travel to those points.Mileage signs should be used more frequently on trails and at points likely to be used by tourists.The signs should be visible from the road or parking area even if they are not legible at that distance - the

recognizable form of the signs as mileage signs tells the public and potential users that the trail has adestination.

Usage and Location of Directional Signs

Use of directional signs

Directional signs should be used at major intersections and at intersections where spur trails provide accessto destinations of general public interest.Not all intersections are required to have directional signs, but trails likely to be used by tourists should bewell signed to encourage usage of the trail system.Intersections can have no signs, be partially signed (spur trail signed), or be fully signed (all trails signed).The level of signing should be determined by the need for signs - if most of the trail users know where agiven trail goes, it does not need to be signed at all. Similarly, if a spur provides only neighborhood access

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that is not of general public interest, that spur need not be signed.Directional signs as promotion

Directional signs can also be used to promote destinations simply by posting them - just by existing adirectional sign serves as a gentle form of promotion. Posting business and community centers asdestinations should be done where appropriate in order to help encourage commuting and the use of other connecting trails.

Open Space Property MarkerThis sign is meant to be installed on the outside of the fence. It would typically be used when Simcoe CountyTrail land adjoins other public land. This sign need only be used when necessary at visible intervals along afence.

Private Property Marker

This sign notifies trail users that they have reached the boundary of public land. It would typically be used tohelp protect private landowners from trespassing and other unauthorized uses of private land adjoining openspace. To reduce the visual disturbance of excessive signs, it is recommended that these signs be used onlyif problems have already occurred or are highly likely to occur.

Dedication Plaques

Plaques to mark the dedication of objects

Small tasteful plaques can be used to identify Trail dedication. These are intended primarily to identify trees,benches, or other objects purchased by donors for the dedication to a person or event.

The plaques should be of natural material but not limited to. The Trail Manager must approve all plaquesbefore installation. Plaques can either be freestanding on matching posts supplied by the manufacturer or mounted on walls, stones, or other surfaces using hardware supplied by the manufacturer. A County policyon size and style of plaques exists so that there is consistency within the trails system of the County.



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Retaining Walls

Retaining walls throughout the trail system should be visually attractive as well as structurally sound.Retaining walls are considered major structures that can serve as positive features along a trail.

Fieldstone is the material of choice. Landscape timbers can be used in situations where stone isinappropriate. Poured concrete and split face pre-formed concrete block systems can be used where stoneor timber is inappropriate.

Retaining walls can be either above or below the trail. In general, it is preferable to place the wall above thetrail so that the wall is retaining an undisturbed slope and to eliminate the need for a railing below the trail.

Stone Retaining WallsThe character of individual stones, naturally weathering in a carefully crafted stone wall, adds greatly to thesolid grounded feeling of the trail system. Stonewalls should be considered features along trails and shouldbe built with care by qualified stoneworkers in order to maximize the desirable character of the walls.

Regardless of the size of stones, all stones should be placed with their center of mass as low as possible,and must follow sound stone wall construction principles. The following illustrates some of the structural andaesthetic qualities that should be built into stone walls:



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Stone Retaining Wall Cross SectionsWalls can be constructed using two different methods.

Hand-laid wallsSmaller or shorter walls in highly visual or visuallyimportant locations should be carefully laid byhand from stones with a human scale (largeststones about 3 across). The principles describedon the previous page should be used to optimizethe character of the wall. Tie stones and other techniques for proper wall construction must beused. The wall can either be dry laid or mortaredwith all joints raked at least 1 deep.

Boulder veneer walls



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Sources of building stone

If possible, use stone obtained on site; otherwise import stone that matches or complements the character and color of native onsite stone as closely as practical. Ideal stones are angular and are consistent with eachother in color and grain.

Timber Retaining WallsIf stone is inappropriate or impractical due to site conditions or site context, landscape timbers may be usedfor retaining walls. Timbers must be pressure treated against decay. Use rough-sawn timbers - avoid timbersthat were pressure-treated through visible perforations.

Care must be taken to ensure that the wall is not pushed forward over time by the pressure of the slopebehind it. If the slope has a tendency to settle and slump, stone or concrete may be a better choice becauseof their heavier dead weight.

Other Types of Retaining WallsIf neither stone nor landscape timbers are appropriate or practical due to site conditions or site context, wallsof other types may be designed and constructed as needed.

Concrete

Concrete retaining walls can be poured on footers as per accepted engineering specifications. These aremost acceptable where the structural need for a poured concrete wall is obvious, or where the wall isadjacent to concrete bridge abutments or other vertical structural concrete.If the face of the wall is visible from the trail or other viewpoints, consider bush hammering the surface with apattern of vertical ridges. For smaller walls, consider using rough-sawn wood placed vertically on the insideof the forms such that the wood grain is formed into the concrete. To visually complete the wall, create aformed concrete cap on the wall.

Interlocking concrete blocks or pre-made concrete wall systems

Preformed concrete blocks with broken rough stone-like faces can be used. Laid on a shallow foundation of compacted sand, the blocks are held together both with ceramic pins and epoxy. The resulting wall isinexpensive to construct and can extend freely around curves, but has a mechanical factory quality.



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As a major continuous and vertical element along a trail, a railing needs to be aesthetic as well as strong andpractical. Railings should curve with the trail as needed, and the ends should flange tohelp visually tie the railing to the site. Lumber used in railings should be free of excessivewarping or deformation that would retract from its appearance. If the lumber is to bepressure-treated, avoid lumber that has been perforated by many small holes in thetreatment process.

Railing height

Pedestrian railings shall be 42 high. Railings primarily for bicyclists on bike paths should be 54 high. For general use, in mixed pedestrian/bicycle situations and in zones that are not high speed bike zones, 42railings are preferred.

Straight and Curved Railings

Railing specifications differ between straight and curved railings. Both types are described here.



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Fences

As part of making the Simcoe County Trails become integral parts of neighborhoods, fence designs for trailboundaries should suit the neighborhood context, either by matching existing attractive fences or byenhancing the neighborhood through a complimentary design. Wherever a choice of fence types exists, theSimcoe County fence design should seek to enhance or improve the quality of the neighborhood whileremaining cost-effective.

Fences can also be used to control user circulation on trails and within County properties.

Boundary FencingFencing for Privacy

If a trail introduces public traffic adjacent to the formerly private area of a residence, the Town should offer toconstruct and pay for a privacy fence. The landowner should be consulted for input on the fence design, butthe County will only pay for the amount of the final fence equivalent to the cost of the Countys standardprivacy fence (see below). If the landowner wants a more expensive fence rather than the standard privacyfence, a cost arrangement should be made. The formally finished face, if any, of the privacy fence shouldface the private landowners side.



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Fencing for livestock and animals

Livestock fences must be designed primarily to retain livestock. Within the proven methods of livestockfencing, choose the most aesthetic design. Typically, this will use wooden posts with some combination of barbed wire and wire mesh, or a high-tensile smooth wire fence.If a trailside landowner has dogs or other animals that could bother trail users, the boundary of that propertyshould be appropriately fenced to keep those animals from reaching the trail. A typical design is a wire meshfence on wooden posts with smaller mesh holes near the bottom of the fence.

Fencing to emphasize boundaries

Trail boundaries can optionally be fenced to delineate or emphasize property lines. Typically, this would bedone to protect adjacent landowners from trespassing by trail users. The fence design should attempt toblend into the neighborhood such that the fence looks more a part of the neighborhood than a part of the trailproperty.

Circulation ControlWithin Trails properties, short sections of fence can be used to control the movements of users or asaesthetic elements in trailhead designs.

Circulation barriers

Where shortcutting of trails is or is expected to be a problem, a short two-rail or one-rail split-rail fence canline the trail to control user movement. Other fence types can be used to better suit the design of the area if needed.

Trailhead aesthetic elements

As described under Trailheads, p. 2-44, short sections of fence can be used as linear and vertical elements

in trailhead design. These fences are typically designed both to draw the users attention to the trail and tocontrol movement along the trail. A two-rail or one-rail split rail fence is the standard fence type for thisusage, but other designs can be used as needed to suit the design of the area.

Hazard barriers

If an area considered hazardous to the public exists within County property, it can be fenced off with a fence of suitable design. The security factor of the fence should be proportional to the amount of hazard - extreme hazards mayrequire a chain-link fence or the equivalent.



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trails manual section6

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