The Federal Highway Administration recently released Trails as Resilient Infrastructure, a guidebook showing how trails can help communities address climate change while delivering broad benefits. Trails can manage stormwater, provide emergency access for first responders, and reduce emissions by shifting trips to walking, bicycling, and other mobility devices.
The guidebook outlines climate threats facing trails across the United States and presents a methodology for conducting vulnerability assessments to prioritize resilience improvements. It highlights the role of trails in advancing equity by improving mobility and supporting emergency response. Methods for incorporating trails into wildfire response and evacuation planning demonstrate their value as redundant transportation networks.
Covering the full range of trail types — from soft-surface hiking trails and off-highway vehicle routes to urban shared-use paths — the guidebook draws from original research by the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center. It also incorporates best practices and innovative approaches from across the country, as well as interviews with practitioners who are already adapting local trails to withstand climate impacts.
Presenters include subject matter experts from Toole Design, who share guidebook findings and case studies, offering practical strategies for planning, designing, and managing trails to strengthen climate resilience.
Learning Objectives:
Apply resilience-based trail design principles to planning, construction, and prioritization through vulnerability assessments.
Pair trail projects with other large-scale infrastructure projects for cost-effective, meaningful impacts on communities and the environment.
Implement methods for incorporating trails into wildfire response and evacuation as redundant transportation networks.
.jpg)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.jpg)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.jpg)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.png)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.png)
.png)
.png)
