A Freewheeling Campaign Effort : Bicyclists Lobby Against Santa Ana Trail Detour

Cyclists who use the Santa Ana River bike trail will be taking to Fountain Valley streets beginning Monday when the trail officially closes for the next phase of the flood-control project.

But unhappy riders say the detour is dangerous and will cause delays.

Part of the bike trail has been closed for about two years during construction between the ocean and the San Diego Freeway overpass. Detours have routed cyclists onto city streets in Huntington Beach and Costa Mesa.

This newest detour will start north of the freeway overpass at MacArthur Boulevard in Costa Mesa and continue on Talbert Avenue in Fountain Valley, go north onto Newhope Street and then head east on Edinger Avenue until it reconnects with the river trail.

But as the $1.4-billion river project--designed to provide better flood protection--continues to move northward, members of the Orange County Bicycle Coalition are urging county and federal officials to reroute the bike trail through the river project’s construction area.

“We believe a safe trail can be made,” said Don Harvey, the coalition’s vice chairman.

For the past year, the coalition has served as the watchdog for cyclists who ride the trail and has worked with city, county and federal officials to make detours safe.

“If we have to accept on-street detours, we want them to meet county and Caltrans standards,” said Paul Pirtle, the group’s Santa Ana River trail representative.

Pirtle said coalition members became outspoken because they believed street detours were inadequate and posed safety hazards for cyclists.

Pirtle also said the coalition believes that the Army Corps of Engineers’ contract specifications for the river project require that a safe and continuous bike trail through the project area must be open at all times.

“In my opinion, the reason a temporary trail is not made within the project area is it’s more costly than rerouting cyclists onto streets,” he said.

County and federal officials contend that the contract does not require that a temporary trail be routed through the project area.

“It’s a matter of interpretation,” said Terrie Medeiros, Orange County Environmental Management Agency project manager for the lower Santa Ana River.

Medeiros and Army Corps of Engineers officials said that leaving a trail on the river is dangerous because of the heavy equipment used for the construction project.

“There’s no way the trail could go through the construction area,” Medeiros said. He noted that walkers, joggers and horseback riders who use the river trail also are inconvenienced by the detours. “There’s not enough right-of-way to make a trail on the river in this area.”

Medeiros said it may be possible for the trail to remain on the river as the construction project moves northward. Flood-control improvements on the river are planned to extend upstream through Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties with completion projected by the year 2000.

“Whenever possible, we will try to keep the trail near the river,” Medeiros said.

Cyclists who ride the Santa Ana River bike trail say pedaling onto city street detours is inconvenient, dangerous and causes time delays on their rides because they must zigzag down residential streets, stop at street lights and ride more cautiously in busy traffic.

Cyclists also said they worry about car doors opening, drivers pulling out in front of them and children running in front of their bikes.

“It’s a pain. The detours are really just inconvenient. Nothing’s worse than traffic,” said cyclist Rudy Karst, 58, of Costa Mesa. “It’s terrible on the street. It’s brutal.”

Karst rides up to 200 miles a week on the river trail.

Jose Lopez, 28, said he rides the bike trail from Santa Ana to his job at a fast-food restaurant in Huntington Beach. He said the detour takes him an extra half-hour, making it a two-hour trek to work.

“Now it’s too much trouble,” he said.

Chris Gough, 50, of Costa Mesa said he no longer will ride from his home to the beach because he has to take streets instead of the trail.

“You used to be able to get on the trail and go whatever speed,” Gough said, adding that street riding forces him to slow down because “you don’t want to get hit by a car.”

Army Corps of Engineers officials said the next phase of the river project through Fountain Valley to 17th Street in Santa Ana is expected to be completed by November, 1994, and more bike-trail closings are planned as the project moves north. Corps officials said the reopening of the bike trail will depend on the progress of construction.

Medeiros said the river trail is planned to reopen July 1 at Adams Avenue and continue south along the river to Pacific Coast Highway.