The cycling community is thoroughly enjoying the city of Santa Clarita’s “brand new free bike park,” according to the Instagram post shared with The Signal by a frustrated neighbor of it Wednesday.
The problem is, the city of Santa Clarita still doesn’t want anyone to enjoy it, just yet.
The short video touted the park’s “free entry,” as the camera panned past a children’s riding area “perfect for beginners,” and brand new city signage at the “Haskell Canyon Bike Park of Santa Clarita,” with drone footage panning enough berms, jumps and ramps to keep any cyclist busy for hours.
It should be noted, the post was not from a city of Santa Clarita account.
The city, for all of the civic pride in its nationally lauded system of 41 parks, has stayed quiet about its latest addition, and the reasoning behind the delay in its opening. Or rather, the delay in the longstanding tradition that accompanies the formal opening of any significant city investment: a ribbon-cutting.
The park, as several Brookview Terrace residents lamented Wednesday, is in reality, very much open.
The issue for them is that the proper infrastructure is not yet in place to facilitate riders on the road to the park, resident Tamara Upton said in a phone interview Wednesday.
And she said the city doesn’t seem to be able to do anything about the concerns she and her neighbors share.
The city has heard from residents about the situation for years, according to another resident who voiced his displeasure to City Hall for months, and then to The Signal, earlier this week.
About 10 weeks ago, a social media post from the city stated, “Riding dirt bikes or any motorized vehicles inside the Haskell Canyon Bike Park construction area is not allowed and is actively damaging the park, delaying its opening and impacting the quality of the facility for everyone who is excited to use it.”
The post also states that violators will be punished to the fullest extent of the law.
Upton said about six months ago there was a security presence added, but that and law enforcement efforts haven’t been frequent enough to stop the behavior. Unauthorized ridership of e-bikes and e-motorcycles has created public-safety concerns throughout the city, based on residents’ comments during recent City Council meetings and on social media.
Upton said she and her neighbors regularly have to suffer through clouds of dirt that are kicked up by riders and then settle all over the neighboring homes on Brookview Terrace.
The topography is part of the challenge, said Ron Marome, who lives on the same street and shared what he described as the neighborhood’s frustration.
“You wash your car in the morning and then by the evening, it’s dirty,” he said, referring to a daily peloton heading to the park that he sees daily from about 5 to 7 p.m.
“The bigger problem for us is, everyone around here is developing allergies that they never had before,” he said. He has to keep the windows in his home closed and replace the filters on a monthly basis for the pricey air purifier he bought.
He said when he started bringing the concerns to city staff, then the City Council nearly two years ago, he was first told the road would be paved.
Then they told him it would be “hard-graveled,” and earlier this year, that messaging changed to “mitigation measures,” he said, which became a water truck to wet and tamp down the dirt.
That started a few months ago, but it hasn’t been done regularly enough to make a big impact, he said, with the coming summer heat having the potential to make things worse before they get better.
City officials declined to answer questions about the park, but issued a statement Wednesday indicating concerns about the road are behind the delays in the park’s opening.
The city of Los Angeles’ Department of Water and Power’s ownership of the road leading up to the park was the reason given to multiple residents as to why the city couldn’t make whatever changes it would like.
“We are working with DWP to address the access road and do not have a timeline as of now,” according to a text message from Carrie Lujan, city spokeswoman, sent Wednesday in response to several questions about the situation.
The latest estimated opening date given by the city was in December, when it was scheduled to open by March 31.
The L.A. DWP confirmed both ownership of the road and its ongoing discussion with Santa Clarita officials, in a statement Thursday evening.
“This land is owned by L.A. DWP and part of our power infrastructure right-of-way,” according to an email from Ellen Cheng, media relations and crisis communications manager for the L.A. DWP. “LADWP is in negotiation with the city of Santa Clarita to address the additional traffic on LADWP land resulting from the Haskell Canyon Bike Park Project.
