---
title: "Multi-Use Trail / Greenway"
url: "https://commonwaysystem.org/patterns/collectors/multi-use-trail-greenway/"
id: "COL-MUT-06"
description: "An off-street Collector Typology shared by pedestrians and bicyclists under roughly equal priority, longer-distance and often a destination in its own right."
updated: "2026-09-10"
---

# Multi-Use Trail / Greenway

`COL-MUT-06`

Recommended Collector

Multi-Use Trail / Greenway

An off-street path shared by pedestrians and bicyclists under roughly equal priority, similar to Shared-Use Path but longer-distance and often a destination in its own right, such as a rail-trail or linear park path.

## Related Media

The items below come from outside the Commonway System, external videos, podcasts, and articles related to this page's topic, not part of the guidebook itself.

Aligned

### [The Reason Our Streets Switched to Cul-De-Sacs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9vDcfH03gs)

City Beautiful

Traces the postwar shift from connected grid networks to tree-shaped cul-de-sac subdivisions, then covers the same shared-use-path connector strategy CS's Network Reconnection retrofit recommends for stitching disconnected cul-de-sacs back into the surrounding network.

Typical at: Rural Suburban Compact Urban Core

Undeveloped contexts are an unlikely pairing.

## Modal hierarchy

Modal hierarchy

Pedestrian = Bicycle

Pedestrian and Bicycle share top priority under this pattern's own equal-priority definition, no ranking between the two. Transit, Vehicle, and Freight do not apply off-street; Design Speed & Speed Limits doesn't apply here, since this pattern excludes automobiles entirely.

## Design notes

Distinct from [Bike Highway / Greenway](https://commonwaysystem.org/patterns/collectors/bike-highway-greenway.md) (COL-BHG-04), which is bicycle-priority rather than equal-priority, and longer-distance than [Shared-Use Path](https://commonwaysystem.org/patterns/local-streets/shared-use-path.md) (LOC-SUP-13), with wayfinding and rest amenities mattering more at this length. Appropriate where the trail itself is a recreational or civic destination, not just a through-corridor. Where it runs parallel to a road for a meaningful stretch, see [Road-Adjacent Greenway](https://commonwaysystem.org/patterns/corridors/road-adjacent-greenway.md) (CDR-RAG-05) for the corridor-scale relationship.[1]

## Related patterns

-   [Shared-Use Path](https://commonwaysystem.org/patterns/local-streets/shared-use-path.md) (LOC-SUP-13)
-   [Bike Highway / Greenway](https://commonwaysystem.org/patterns/collectors/bike-highway-greenway.md) (COL-BHG-04)
-   [Road-Adjacent Greenway](https://commonwaysystem.org/patterns/corridors/road-adjacent-greenway.md) (CDR-RAG-05)

## Getting there: Retrofit path options

[Barrier-crossing / network reconnection retrofit](https://commonwaysystem.org/retrofits/network/barrier-crossing-network-reconnection-retrofit.md) (RFT-NET-03) commonly takes this form where it crosses a highway, rail line, or disconnected cul-de-sac pattern.

## References

1.  Legal / regulatory [AASHTO, _Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities_, 5th Edition (2024).](https://store.transportation.org/item/collectiondetail/267)