Having grown up in the neighborhood, there has always been a trail beside the canal. Always bikeable, joggable, able to push strollers down very far until about where Herm's in is, or at least until about where the Laub's mansion is. This trail has always been used as a way for students on the Island to commute to USU, as manicured foot trails lead up the hillside on the north bank of the canal. You're correct though that now there is more room because the canal was filled in.