rails
      
      
        
          to
        
      
      
        trails
      
      
        ◆
      
      
        winter.13
      
      
        22
      
      
        d
      
      
        
          Finland
        
      
      
        In Helsinki, Finland’s pocket-
      
      
        sized capital, a new path
      
      
        for cyclists and pedestrians
      
      
        opened in June 2012. It
      
      
        follows a former freight line
      
      
        connecting the West Harbor
      
      
        with Toolo Bay and a bicycle
      
      
        center at the Kamppi public
      
      
        transportation hub.
      
      
        Hemmed in by old
      
      
        stone as well as natural rock
      
      
        walls, the landscaped Baana
      
      
        Corridor stretches for 0.8
      
      
        miles, all below street level,
      
      
        and incorporates wider sec-
      
      
        tions for basketball, Ping-
      
      
        Pong and petanque as well
      
      
        as bocce. The three-lane
      
      
        trail, already being called the
      
      
        “
      
      
        Low Line” by Finns who
      
      
        have visited New York City,
      
      
        is Helsinki’s latest effort to
      
      
        encourage cycling downtown.
      
      
        And while more than 5,000
      
      
        cyclists already use the route
      
      
        daily, lights, benches, flow-
      
      
        ers and roughly 180 newly
      
      
        planted trees make Baana
      
      
        more than a thoroughfare,
      
      
        encouraging locals and tour-
      
      
        ists to linger during Finland’s
      
      
        long, light-filled
      
      
        summer days.
      
      
        
          1
        
      
      
        LAANEMAA TOURISM
      
      
        DESTINATION BORNHOLM
      
      
        CITY OF HELSINKI/VLADIMIR POHTOKARI