And they want us to walk our bikes or use alternate routes:
The City of Santa Clarita is scheduled to begin construction on areas of the Bicycle Trail parallel to Soledad Canyon Road beginning Monday, August 17 as part of the City’s annual Overlay and Slurry Seal Project. All affected areas of the Bicycle Trail will be closed to cyclists and a detour will be provided.
Surface sealing, root and tree branch removal, and the installation of a root barrier will be conducted on portions of the Bicycle Trail parallel to Soledad Canyon Road from Camp Plenty Road to Golden Oak Road. Sidewalk detours will be provided and cyclists are encouraged to walk bikes on the detour or choose an alternate route during construction.
“Cyclists may choose to use an alternate route during the Bicycle Trail construction. However, to ensure cyclist safety, all bikes must be walked while using the detour provided for the Bicycle Trail on Soledad Canyon Road,” said Mayor Frank Ferry. “When construction in completed, local cyclists will enjoy a much smoother ride on one of the most frequently used City bike paths for years to come, which is the goal of the annual Overlay and Slurry Seal Project.”
The problem is, of course, that there are no alternate routes for getting from the west valley to the east valley. The Soledad bike path is it - there’s simply no other way, unless you take Bouquet up Plum Canyon to Whites or Sierra Highway all the way north. Both of these options are hilly (which is cool for me, but not all). The press release doesn’t say it specifically, but it sounds like the entire path is going to be resurfaced, so people in Canyon Country who use it ‘locally’ will also be affected. Way to go reading comprehension: the City has pointed out that they list the location of the closure: it’s from Camp Plenty west to Golden Oak Road. My apologies for screwing this one up.
Don’t get me wrong, I think the bike path needs maintenance. Many sections are bumpy thanks to big tree roots. Others are cracked and beat up with debris everywhere. I’m thankful they’re going to rebuild/reseal it.
It’ll be a hassle is all. Not like we can ride our bikes on the superhighway that is Soledad!
I wish this could have waited until the bike path from Newhall Ranch Road–>Golden Valley Road is built (it’s part of the last section of the Cross Valley Connector, which is getting “cemented” as I write this.) That, like the Cross Valley Connector itself, would have offered us a solid east-west alternate route.
As an aside, and to make up for my city bashing lately, let me just say the City Briefs blog has become a very good resource and is well written with nice photos.