SECTION 6 - TRAIL DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT CONSIDERATIONS

6.1 General Considerations

Most of the proposed trail route is located within a publicly owned corridor (mostly a road reserve) though a short section at Elleker will be located within the recreation reserve (oval), alongside the verge of Lower Denmark Road (including the bridge over the Marbellup Brook) and along Brassey Street.

The former railway corridor has several bridges, in various states of disrepair and vegetation growth. Repair and restoration of the bridge surfaces with new timber decking and handrails is required. Traversing the old railway bridges is a quintessential element of the rail-trail experience.

Choosing appropriate materials for the trail's sub-base and topping (surface layer) is critical to the longevity and suitability of the trail for the intended user groups.

6.2 Trail Width and Height

6.3 Trail Surface Material

6.4 Safety Considerations

Another major safety issue is that of the bridges over the water courses. When the railway bridges were constructed, handrails were not required in view of their use by trains. Now that use of these structures by horse riders, cyclists and walkers is being contemplated, the issue of safety railings on the sides of the bridges needs to be considered. Handrails will help ensure the safety of users of the bridges, preventing people from falling over the sides - a Standards Australia requirement.

Though the bridges are not particularly 'high' above the creek below, nevertheless handrails should be installed on all bridge crossings to give a sense of safety, uniformity and consistency along the trail.

The only other significant safety issue relates to possible conflicts between different types of trail users - legal and illegal - for example, horses (or walkers or cyclists) and trail bikes or 4WD's, or horses and cyclists (or walkers). Effective signage and vehicle exclusion barriers (management access gates) will greatly limit this potential problem.

Signs are discussed at length elsewhere in the report, and vehicle exclusion barriers are listed as a required action at each significant road crossing.

Dogs can be a potential safety consideration on a trail such as this, as it passes a number of private properties, many of which are sure to have dogs, and numerous properties with cattle and/or sheep. It is strongly recommended that a "no dogs" policy be instigated for the majority of the trail - in view of adjoining landowners (farmers) concerns - though there will be some short sections (such as near to Torbay and Elleker) where a "dogs on leads only" policy could be tolerated.

6.5 Road Crossings

Conformity with road crossing detail as specified in Austroads Guide to Traffic Engineering Practice - Pt 14 - Bicycles is essential. See diagrams.

Along the rail corridor, two types of road crossing treatments are proposed:

• Crossings of major roads; and
• Minor road and driveway crossings.

The plans which accompany this report illustrate where these various types of crossing are required. (See Drawings 6 - 9 of Appendix 3).

6.6 Signage

The detailed trail development plan will determine what signs are required and where they should be located.

6.7 Interpretation

Signage does need to be used with caution - it can crowd and clutter a landscape, even detracting from some visitor's experiences, and "cheap" manufacturing processes can degrade quickly when exposed to harsh conditions. Writing and designing interpretive signs has become a highly-specialised task, and the difference in visitor impact between "good" signs and the "ordinary" can be substantial. Installing signage in outdoor locations can however be a risky exercise. Vandalism and harsh weather conditions can take a toll on signs of many types, and can rapidly reduce the effectiveness and value of what are often substantial capital investments.

A wide range of materials is used for interpretive panels across Australia. These vary substantially in terms of longevity/hardiness and price. Simply put, the cheaper the panel the more prone it is likely to be to degradation by the weather and/or vandalism, and the shorter the period that it will retain its full original 'colour' and therefore its aesthetic appeal. Experience in many locations has shown that vandals and the weather can combine to make life difficult for interpretive panels, and can quickly erode the investment made by the host organisation. Two types of panel are commonly used, and are worthy of consideration:

Digital colour panels are generally best suited to situations where they are not exposed to direct sunlight (as they tend to fade over time), and where they can be better protected from vandalism. Larger signs of this type can be installed with a clear unbreakable polycarbonate face, which then takes the brunt of "idiot behaviour" (scratching, rock throwing, tagging, spray-painting etc) - this can be cleaned, and then can be replaced at limited cost if required (while the panel behind remains protected).

Inks used for digital print signs have improved dramatically over the years, and most manufacturers now guarantee at least 5 years without fading - though the better production processes appear to be producing signs that are still colourful and clearly recognizable approaching double that time. Given that this style of sign is cheaper to produce than the longer-lasting etched aluminium, it would appear to be worth using where colour is a priority, despite the increased potential for vandalism.

The great advantage of this sign style is the ability to reproduce colour photographs to a life-like quality. This has particular merit considering the Torbay Nature Trail has a focus on wildflowers. Indeed, digital colour panels can work exceedingly well in helping visitors identify flower species when in season - or enjoy them when they are not flowering. In the case of the Torbay Nature Trail (the walk-only section of the proposed rail-trail), it is suggested that small single-species signs be installed, beside a "good" example of key species. These signs should carry a clear photograph of the plant in flower; they should also have both the botanical and common name, and just one or two sentences describing key features of the species. These signs should be approximately the size of an A4 page: 200 x 300 mm, and should be installed on 50 x 50 mm box-section steel posts.

A second level of interpretation is also warranted, to tell the broader "big picture" stories associated with the landscape through which the proposed rail-trail passes. In order to remain consistent, these signs too should be digital colour prints, though of a larger size: 600 x 350 mm. Each should contain approximately 200 words of text (less if possible, while maintaining the integrity of the story), and 1 or more images to illustrate the story. Quality photographs should illustrate most panels, while others could utilise pen-and-ink sketches. Panels should again be mounted on 50 x 50 mm steel posts. Due to the potential for vandalism (and a shorter overall lifespan) digital colour signs should not be used at the trail-head or for map panels or directional markers - in these cases etched anodised aluminium is recommended.

Etched aluminium panels are virtually indestructible. Direct sun, rain and wind do not degrade the surface. Vandalism has little or no impact - they can be cleaned off if they are tagged, and are extremely hard to scratch in any significant way. However, they cannot be produced in colour, and usually come out as a "greyscale". Nonetheless images do reproduce clearly and they are a handsome top-of-the-market style of sign.

Items potentially worthy of interpretation include:

• History - railway development and settlement of the region (Note: the excellent book "Elleker Denmark Nornalup. The railway extended west but never met ..." by Ross McGuinness is an exceptionally good resource for interpretive material for any panels to be written on the settlement and railway history associated with this railway line).
• Importance and function of the stations / sidings along the corridor.
• Special features of the railway.
• Agricultural development history - grain, cows, sheep.
• Other agricultural enterprises: wineries etc.
• Timber milling and local industries.
• Vegetation/wild flowers.
• Topography; the Torbay Catchment and the Torbay Inlet.
• Birds and other common animals (eg. kangaroos; snakes).
• Indigenous history.

6.8 Bridges

Between Torbay and Elleker there are 3 significant bridges, ranging in length from 3 metres 10 metres. There were also numerous timber culverts under the railway (most are now gone) to assist with drainage of stormwater from the low-lying land either side of the railway formation.

Reinstatement and refurbishment of the bridges is likely to be one of the major cost components of the rail-trail project. Re-decking of the bridges, together with installation of handrails where required (in compliance with Australian Standards for bridges) will be a major component of the cost of establishing the rail-trail (see diagram next page for recommended technique for re-decking bridges). Though the bridge decking timbers have long gone, the supporting concrete piers appear to be in sound condition. It should also be noted that these bridges were constructed to withstand many tonnes of steam locomotives - and that weight is not a factor now when considering their future use on a trail.

A detailed structural assessment of each bridge along the railway corridor was not carried out. Should the decision be made to proceed into the next phase (ie. construction) the services of a qualified bridge engineer will need to be utilised to assess the structural soundness of the concrete piers and abutments.

A unit rate of about $1,000 per linear metre has been used in the tables which follow later in this report. The rate allows for:

• removal of any decking timbers that remains;
• installation of new support beams, decking timbers, handrails and kerbing; and
• transport and site works.

Bridge locations are indicated on the plans which accompany this report.

6.9 Trail Heads and Parking

As this railway corridor linked the towns/settlements of Torbay and Elleker, it is obvious that the existing towns provide the ideal starting/ending points of the trail.

At the Torbay end, the most appropriate trailhead is the existing parking area at the Torbay hall. This area also features a toilet, water, parking and shade/shelter. The Torbay community will need to decide on a policy regarding the toilets (which are currently locked) and the supply of water (as the supply is not turned on). The hall surrounds are a lovely place, with grassed areas and shade trees and an information shelter for the Torbay Nature Trail (which has its trailhead at the Torbay Hall). The only additional facilities required at this trailhead would be a picnic table and improved trailhead information and trail map (in the existing information shelter).

At the Elleker end, the suggested trailhead should be the Elleker hall. This area has an existing parking for cars, toilets are close by (across the road), shade/shelter, picnic tables and bike parking (across the road). It is also close to the Elleker General Store. A trailhead map panel (with general information about the trail) could be affixed to the wall of the hall/clubhouse, at the top of the ramp.

6.10 Suitability for Multi-Use

The proposed trail surface (locally available gravel) is eminently suitable for walkers and cyclists (using mountain bikes). Most rail-trails in WA use gravel as the trail surface. The original formation for the railway used gravel as ballast - re-working of any gravel ballast which remains upon removal of the vegetation regrowth will be required - as well as additional gravel for surfacing the trail.

The local demand for the trail from horse riders, and the railway corridor's likely future use as the alignment for the Munda Biddi Trail dictate that care should be taken to ensure a firm, hard wearing gravel surface is provided.

Drawing 1 of Appendix 3 illustrates a typical cross section of a rail-trail, with a 3.0 metre wide trail surface.

6.11 Other Users and Trail Etiquette

It is evident that the potential for unauthorised motorised usage of sections of the proposed rail-trail is regarded as a major problem to adjoining landowners - fearful that trail bikes and 4WD vehicles may gain access to farmland and property.

Every attempt must be made to ensure the trail is not used by either four-wheel drives or trail bikes.

The use of 'cavaletti' gates at road crossings (see Drawing 10 of Appendix 3), where other chicanes and management access gates are installed, is one method of enabling horse riders to access the railway corridor trail, and still keep unwanted trail bike riders out. The 'chicane' designs (Appendix 3) are effective motor vehicle and motor bike barriers.

Education through signage and use of locked gates or other vehicle exclusion barriers will help, as will encouraging bona-fide users - and local residents - to report registration numbers of illegal users.