Bike Trail Detours Are Price of Progress : * Cyclists Should Be Patient Because Santa Ana River Route Changes Are Temporary

What will it be in Fountain Valley along the Santa Ana River--bike trails or heavy trucks and rearranged dirt? The answer ought to be easy enough. But progress invariably means a certain amount of dislocation, and the $1.4-billion project to provide better protection against flooding on the river is a nuisance for riders of the river’s bike trails.

As the project has moved inland, new sections of the trail have been detoured, to the dismay of riders forced to city streets. Now things have come to a head in Fountain Valley, where the closing of a section of the trail has prompted riders to demand a temporary trail through the construction area.

In response, the project manager for the lower Santa Ana River, the Orange County Environmental Management Agency, asserts that it is under no contractual obligation to provide such a temporary trail. A coalition of riders, the Orange County Bicycle Coalition, says county and federal officials are obliged to provide a temporary route.

While it would be nice to accommodate the riders while the work is being done, one need only eyeball the work site to see the difficulties. Much of the existing trail has been ripped up, and now serves as a staging area for the heavy equipment moving in and out of the riverbed. Having riders passing through work areas would pose hazards and possible liability.

Riders understandably are upset about routes that take them through city streets. For them the detour is as inconvenient as the recent rain that ran through Orange County rivers where “dry season” work was being done. But inevitably, such projects can disrupt recreational activities. True, there are dangers in routing riders through city streets. But a little inconvenience for a set period of time is inevitable. A section of the trail is scheduled to reopen July 1 at Adams Avenue. Other closed sections eventually will reopen. Have a little patience.