City of Mobile and Mobile Area Trails > Definitions

Bike Route: A bike route is a signed or stenciled route on a local street. It is typically marked by the placement of standardized green and white bike route directional signs or pavement stencils along the roadway. This is a Class III bike route.

Bike Lane: A bike lane is located in or beside a street. A bike lane could be a widened road surface which is separated from motor vehicle lanes by paint striping, reflectors or a raised curb barrier. This lane could also be a lane separated form motor vehicles by a strip of land similar to a sidewalk. It is located within the right-of-way of the road that it parallels. This is a Class II bike lane.

Bike Path: A bike path is a completely separate facility. It is removed form streets or roads, located within its own right-of-way or in drainage or utility easements, flood plains, or abandoned railroad corridors. This is the safest type of bikeway, as it is removed from motor vehicles, except where it might cross a road. This "multi-use trail" should be a minimum of ten feet wide to accommodate a variety of users. This is a Class I bike path.

Bike Trail: A bike trail may be defined as an informal, non-designated trail that may have other uses other than as a bike trail (such as walking or running). These trails are located within county or city parks. This is an un-official definition used for the purpose of clarification and distinction from the 2001 official designations for this mapping task.

Cyclist Route: A cyclist route may be defined as an informal, non-designated route along city and county right-of-ways selected by experienced road cycling enthusiasts specifically for use by experienced road cyclists. This is an un-official definition used for the purpose of clarification and distinction from the 2001 official designations for this mapping tast. These trails were mapped from data obtained at a mountain biking web-site (http://members.aol.com/sandluna/bike.html). This data comprises written street directions with starting and finishing points as well as parking information. The written directions should accompany all cyclist route maps.