When I was a young girl, almost all of us kids rode bikes all around the neighborhood while a few hotshots flew by us on motorized mini-bikes. So when cities created bicycle-and-walk-only trails and passageways, it made sense that they put up barriers to keep out the fast and loud motorized bikes and their hotshot riders.
But here it is, 40 years later and few kids ride mini-bikes. Yet the tightly-spaced gates remain, annoying people on bikes. Like me. I’m pretty good at weaving through gates, even on my big Dutch bike, but this pair on the south side of Palo Alto had me putting a foot down every time I passed through (and cussing to myself too).
I never expected the gates to be suddenly opened. A few weeks ago I was riding home from shopping trip to Palo Alto and they were completely gone, not just widened for easier access. Thank you, City of Palo Alto!
This unexpected improvement was timed perfectly for my latest project, a map of “secret passages” for a story on Bike Fun, my new blog for the Mountain View Voice. The Google map was surprisingly easy to create and in just four days the map already has over 150 views. I guess these passageways won’t be so secret for long.
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- I’m good at tight turns, but these were impossible on my Dutch bike.
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- Poof! They’re completely gone from both ends of the passageway.
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- Now people on bikes can pass without having to stop and block the way.
Location: Between Duncan Place and Creekside Drive in Palo Alto, California, USA
Ken
June 2, 2013 at 6:38 pm
Ray Hosler mentioned this on his blog last March. The change must have happened around then, since I had ridden it a few times over the winter with the barricades in place. It is a welcome improvement.This is a great route from Palo Alto to Mountain View and also to the back (semi-secret) entrance to the Cubberly Community Center.
http://rayhosler.wordpress.com/2013/03/16/obstacle-removed-on-palo-alto-bike-path/
ladyfleur
June 2, 2013 at 7:29 pm
That sounds about right. I took the first photo on February 10 (I don’t remember why. Maybe for another Bike Lane FAIL story?) I took the second photo on April 16, which is not when we first noticed it. We noticed it on the way home from a bike date in Palo Alto but it was too dark to take a proper shot.
I have a couple of friends from the Palo Alto DPW. I pinged them so maybe we’ll get some more information about the background of the removal.
Cheryl
June 5, 2013 at 8:18 am
Thanks for posting such great before and after photos! This is on my regular commute to work and once I tried it too fast, bumped into a post and my brake lever snapped off! very glad to see the gates gone:-)