Does horseback riding tear up general use trails?

Whether a bicyclist has a right to utilize the shoulder of the Interstate Freeway System.?

• According to Colorado Statutes, bicycles may be prohibited on roadways if there is an alternate route within ¼ mile of the roadway. For safety purposes, CDOT has chosen to apply this statute to much of I-70 and I-25. The alternate routes can be other roadways or non-motorized paths. Here is the statute language: CRS 42-4-109 (11), it states: “Where suitable bike paths, horseback trails, or other trails have been established on the right-of-way or parallel to and within one-fourth mile of the right-of-way of heavily traveled streets and highways, the department of transportation may, subject to the provisions of section 43-2-135, CRS, by resolution or order entered in its minutes, and local authorities may, where suitable bike paths, horseback trails, or other trails have been established on the right-of-way or parallel to it within four hundred fifty feet of the right-of-way of heavily traveled streets, by ordinance, determine and designate, upon the basis of an engineering and traffic investigation, those heavily traveled streets and highways upon which shall be prohibited any bicycle, animal rider, animal-drawn conveyance, or other class or kind of non-motorized traffic which is found to be incompatible with the normal and safe movement of traffic, and, upon such a determination, the department of transportation or local authority shall erect appropriate official signs giving notice thereof; except that with respect to controlled access highways the provisions of section 42-4-101(3) shall apply.” Recently, I was riding my bicycle on the extreme right side of the freeway shoulder between Frisco and Copper Mountain. During at least six months of the year, the recreation path along Ten Mile Creek is closed due to deep snow cover and avalanche danger in Officers Gulch. The alternative state highway, without shoulder, is Highway 91 to Leadville, 25 miles over Freemont Pass, then Highway 24 to Fairplay, south on Highway 9 to Breckenridge, over Hoosier Pass, then 10 miles down the Blue River to Breckenridge. Therefore, the I-70 is the only reasonable means for me to commute from Copper Mountain to Frisco. During that evening, I was returning from work. A snowplow driver on his way to Vail Pass stopped on the shoulder at the 195 mile marker to block my progress and attempted to stop me. When I ignored his command to pull over, he yelled to me that I should not be on the freeway. Then, he blasted his air horn and shouted, “#### you!” I called his supervisor to discuss the issue. I told him that I have no alternative to commute for work other than traveling on the shoulder of the freeway. The supervisor informed me that a snowplow driver has authority from Colorado State Patrol to detain traffic. I provided him with my identity, telephone number, and location of work in case an officer wanted to write me a ticket. My question is whether there is any existing case law interpreting the Colorado Statute or other state statutes concerning bicycle or other slow-moving traffic on the shoulder of interstate freeways in the United States. The only reference that I have been able to find is United States v. Guest, Supreme Court of the United States (1966): “The constitutional right to travel from one State to another, and necessarily to use the highways and other instrumentalities of interstate commerce in doing so, occupies a position fundamental to the concept of our Federal Union. It is a right that has been firmly established and repeatedly recognized.” - Kim Fenske, JD

• Answer:

  You do not have the right to travel on the "interstate" system if you do not meet min. standards (set by the state) . You may not be not allowed to hike, bike, ride a horse on the interstates. If you have a motorcycle that cannot meet the speed requirements or has less than 5hp you can not go on the interstate system. State hi-ways and roads may be different, and yes snow plows do have control over traffic (depending on state rules). The right to go from state to state does not give you the right to the path you want to take, just that you can go from state to state with out being detained. The only way slow moving traffic is allowed on the interstate hi-way system is by special permit and these are mostly for moving large equipment loads that can not be moved on other roads first and their travel route and time is heavily regulated.