In a couple of months or so, a new car bridge nearby will connect to an existing paved trail that will almost take me to the front door of my local tea shoppe except for crossing one busy intersection at their nearby trail access. This bridge will also connect to an existing segment of trail about a quater of mile from me. This round about way of getting to the tea shoppe by trail is about 3 miles. The direct route on city streets is about two miles. It almost isn't worth the hassle with cars on my bike but I do it because I'm the only one so far biking in for tea. The untethered bike outfront adds panache. I will say my metro area municipalities got that one right. With any new development even freeways they are required to put in trails which eventually link up with further development which link up to interconnecting trails. The unconnected trail at the end of my street was put in a couple of years ago by an adjacent development.
Jim