Reply to Ride from Depew train Station to trail

After riding Cincinnati to Cleveland next spring I’m thinking of taking the train to Depew and the riding east on the Erie Canal trail.

Is the road (Transit Ave) north to the trail super busy? Is there a decent shoulder? Any suggestions on alternate routes?

THX. Howard

I would not recommend Transit Road - between the train station and the trail to the north, a good chunk is a high-speed 6-8 lane suburban highway that would be extremely dangerous to walk or ride on, sidewalk included.

An alternate route, suburban traffic but manageable, would be Dick Road -] over to Union Road -] north to North Forest -] Elicott Creek Trailway -] trail at Tonawanda Creek.

However if you haven't been to Buffalo and don't mind a little extra time, I would ride down to Canalside in downtown Buffalo. It's a park centered around the former terminus of the Erie canal into Lake Erie. There is also a bit more to see downtown with some historic architecture, and just north of downtown in Allentown will be some non-chain places to eat and a bike shop if you need anything.

https://goo.gl/maps/GU6nJHB6r3P3rcwX8

From the Depew station, head down Dick Road -] west on Broadway -] south on Union to the Lehigh Valley Rail Trail heading east. You will find it on Google Maps.

From there, ride the trail down to the other end on William Street. William Street is a low traffic industrial street for the most part that will take you downtown. Once you are in the core there are several streets that will take you south of downtown to Canalside. From there you can start the official trail.

We took Amtrak to Buffalo Depew 2 years ago and opted to ride to the official train head. It added a lot of miles to the first day but worth it. A word of caution, not a lot of water on a hot day so be prepared. We passed a lot of nice trailside parks but none of the had water.

Agree with Joe about heading into Bflo. Transit Road is a rather busy N-S route without much of a riding shoulder. When you start out from Buffalo you follow the river up to Tonawanda and then follow the Erie Canal eastward. Regarding water... you are always a short distance from convenient stores or restaurants along the way.

Joe: Not aware of the Lehigh Valley Rail Trail in Buffalo -- didn't show up on Google maps as an option in BIKE mode either. I've ridden on it over in the Rochester area, but that's a linear trail over there.

wnybubba - I had never known the name of the trail until looking at it on Google Maps but it looks like it's also called "Cheektowaga Rails to Trails".

https://www.alltrails.com/explore/trail/us/new-york/cheektowaga-historic-rail-to-trail?mobileMap=false&ref=sidebar-view-full-map

Sorry, looks like my first post lost formatting.

William Street from downtown to this trail is a good low-traffic connector from downtown to the eastern suburbs and country side.

Just a little south heading east is Como Park Boulevard which is a nice on-road ride into Lancaster. From Lancaster the "Lancaster Heritage Trail" takes you into into Alden, where the is very little traffic on the side roads.

Thanks Joe. All of your suggestions offer good advise. I live southeast of Bflo and haven't traveled too many trails in the city. However, on Friday when I was in town I crossed over the Heritage Trail -- one that I was unfamiliar with as well.

Drop me a line sometime if you want to get out and bike together. My email is my user-name here @gmail.com

Thanks guys. All very helpful