A Bike Path is Born

Well - how is that for imminent? I went to the channel in the morning to find preliminary centerline markings on the new asphalt paving; I went back out in the late afternoon to find a centerline fully painted, a shoulder along the fence line, additional bike lane markings, and signs, at the next street to the south. And thus was a new bike path born in the City of Rancho Cucamonga. Was I surprised?

You know it!

Coworkers and myself have watched the work that has been taking place for the past month or more. The work seemed pretty standard, the old service road had developed big cracks and ridges, and the edges were crumbling. When I left for the holiday break the cracks had been dug out, ridges had been scraped away, a new edge had been board-formed with some smooth precision, with asphalt filling all the new gaps. The paving was rough but, after all, it was just a service road. A week and a half later, back to work, and there is a nice smooth top coat with a street sweeper passing back and forth cleaning it up. Oh, and those preliminary lines giving a suggestion, and a hope, that this service road was about to be transformed into something even more useful.

There was a time when I would ride this particular channel-side service road on a regular basis to get to work, or at least the part from Eighth Street south. It saved me from having to ride on one of two ridiculously fast streets. 

I don't know how far north along the Deer Creek channel this new bike path goes, but I can tell you this section of it runs between 4th Street and Sixth Street; beyond that I will have to check later. It would be nice if it crossed 6th and continued up to 8th (at that point it would have to cross railroad tracks, and since people don't always use their best common sense, that would make its continued northward progression from there, problematic). To the south, the channel continues on to Guasti Regional Park; that would make a heck of a connection, but also involve a different city. The new End Bike Path sign at 4th suggests the possibility of any such connection lies somewhere in the murky future. 

Bicycling and recreational advocates have long recognized that the service roads running alongside creek and river channels were excellent candidates for conversion to multi-use trails. The region's two largest river trails are perfect examples, yet many smaller (and heavily used) ones also exist - think of the Thompson Creek Trail, and the Cucamonga Creek Trail. The city of Glendora is actively converting waterway service roads within their municipality, and rumors of plans for other paths in other localities are in no short supply.

For as long as I have been working in the part of the city I have seen people using this particular stretch of channel - for their morning and afternoon jogs, and to get around by foot and bike. I have often wondered if the many No Trespassing signs have discouraged others from doing so; it is good to see the local transportation and recreation potentials of such routes being recognized and formalized in an official way.

path end / beginning at 4th Street

Okay, so a day later, I went to take a couple photos at the other end - Sixth Street; I don't see any construction going on the other side of the street so, for the time being, this new path only runs between 4th and 6th. Notice that for pedestrian to cross the street here, they must make the long walk over to Hermosa - who wants to take bets on whether or not that will happen?

end / beginning of the path at 6th Street