Countywide : Santa Ana River Bike Trail Opens

The Santa Ana River Trail from Adams Avenue in Costa Mesa to West Coast Highway opened Thursday with no fanfare.

The trail, which will be used by pedestrians, joggers and bicycle riders, opened after several last-minute improvements.

The Orange County Bicycle Coalition had criticized the project as having safety problems, but improvements were made Wednesday and Thursday, officials said.

“We were working today to make sure the fencing is up and the detour signs are up, but we still need a few directional signs,” said Terrie Medeiros, who oversees the trail for the Orange County Environmental Management Agency. “The work we did Wednesday was the most critical and time-consuming, because we had to cut into the bridge on Adams Avenue.”

The part of the trail that needed improvement, a 1 1/2-mile stretch between Victoria Street and Adams Avenue, opened a clear path of five miles for users without detours into city streets, said Albert O’Shaughnessy, the project engineer.

The section that opened was of particular concern for the Orange County Bicycle Coalition, which was asked for recommendations. The coalition complained that there were no bike trails provided during the initial work on the project.

Paul Pirtle, vice chairman of the coalition, said he was present while workers made some of the improvements and is satisfied that the safety problems have been corrected for the July 4 weekend.

The $1.4-billion river trail project is expected to be completed by the year 2000 and will run from Huntington Beach to Redlands.

Medeiros said the next two stages of the project are expected to be finished by November, ahead of schedule.