13. 17-0348 Review of Polliwog Park Pedestrian and Bicycle Path Alternatives for Safe Routes to School Grant (Community Development Director McIntosh).
DISCUSS AND PROVIDE DIRECTION
Anyone watching the middle school bike/pedestrian situation when school gets out can see the pattern that every student going south heads down a 10’ corridor that wraps around the south fence to a 5-foot-wide sidewalk. Our city engineer’s plan to remove 30 feet of the fencing to mitigate the bottleneck at the sidewalk was deemed a very effective way to ease the flow. Removing the fencing can be done so fast. Please, don’t ruin more park space without at least trying this first.
The bicycle path if approved should not be attached to the pedestrian sidewalk in any way. Having the bicycle path attached would create a situation where pedestrians could impede the bikers right of way thus creating a safety hazard. Bicycles must be able to use the path without any pedestrian interference.
Anyone watching the middle school bike/pedestrian situation when school gets out can see the pattern that every student going south heads down a 10’ corridor that wraps around the south fence to a 5-foot-wide sidewalk. Our city engineer’s plan to remove 30 feet of the fencing to mitigate the bottleneck at the sidewalk was deemed a very effective way to ease the flow. Removing the fencing can be done so fast. Please, don’t ruin more park space without at least trying this first.
I like the straight path and do not consider that dangerous (such are all over Europe); trees can be replanted to augment the decided path.
The bicycle path if approved should not be attached to the pedestrian sidewalk in any way. Having the bicycle path attached would create a situation where pedestrians could impede the bikers right of way thus creating a safety hazard. Bicycles must be able to use the path without any pedestrian interference.