San Antonio is a victim of its own success, which is a good thing as long as we recognize it and address it in a timely manner. That’s why it’s time to adopt a new campaign, which we are calling Share the River: Five New Rules to Make the San Antonio River Safe and Fun For All.
From Brackenridge Park south to the historic Missions, the San Antonio River was a mostly uninviting waterway a decade ago, save for the River Walk. Not today. From the Museum Reach to the Mission Reach, the river is teeming with people getting outdoors and getting active on what has become one of America’s great linear parks, 15 miles-plus of inviting space through the urban core and San Antonio history.
All those cyclists, joggers, walkers, children, skateboarders and pets sharing the narrow pathways has created a situation where too many people feel vulnerable and unsafe. Accidents have happened, more are bound to follow. Fortunately, it hasn’t happened here yet, but read this Washington Post account of an elderly woman killed in a collision with a cyclist on the paved Four Mile Run trail near the Potomac River.
My extended family lives one block from the King William Reach, yet my elderly in-laws will not venture unaccompanied on to the River Walk because they feel vulnerable and unsafe.
The San Antonio River Improvements Project is one of the city’s great, post-HemisFair ’68 stories of urban transformation. Yet all those cyclists and joggers and walkers wearing headphones and grooving on music have made for an uneasy mix. Readers reacted strongly when the Rivard Report first surfaced the issue last week in an overview story and a submission from Josie Davidson, a riverfront resident who walks 50 miles a week on the Eagleland and Mission Reaches and has found near-miss collisions an almost daily experience.
Considering all that reader feedback and our own experiences, here are our suggested Five New Rules to Make the River Safe and Fun For All:
1. Slow down, cyclists.
Posted speed limits and speed bumps are not practical, but cyclists should always slow down when nearing pedestrians of all ages and yield, even if unaware pedestrians fail to keep to the right. Call out “On your left!” loud enough for people to hear, or use a bell to warn people you are approaching. Understand that not everyone will react quickly and correctly to your signal, so slow pedal in the vicinity of pedestrians on crowded paths. Groups of cyclists should ride in a single line slowly. Fast-paced cycling should only be permitted on stretches of the Mission Reach void of people during the day and never after dark. All cyclists should conform to city ordinance and have working rear (red) and front (white) lights visible to others on the pathways.
2. Pedestrians should keep to the right.
Groups of walkers or joggers should not jog or walk side by side and block oncoming or passing traffic. Pedestrians should give cyclists room to pass when they call out, “On your left!” by stepping to the right and/or making eye contact with the cyclist as a smart precaution.
3. Cyclists on the Museum Reach and King William Reach should always slow pedal and yield to pedestrians.
People wearing headphones should be able to hear ambient sound so they know when cyclists are approaching.
4. The City of San Antonio and the San Antonio River Authority should install new signage that clearly communicates the rules of the river.
Signage and even a few video kiosks at highly trafficked entry and exit points, such as the Pearl and Blue Star, demonstrating appropriate and inappropriate behavior would be helpful. Signage should blend artfully into the respective river landscapes so as not to mar the park experience.
5. The City and SARA should embark on a public education campaign that teaches people to Share the River.
A professionally produced video shot and edited by local talent could be used in an advertising campaign with the local media, at the San Antonio International Airport, in hotels, and at kiosks placed at heavy traffic areas along the river.
Those are my suggested New Rules. The people at the City and SARA who actually are responsible for the San Antonio River have been watching traffic along the river grow and they’ve been meeting to address the safety issues. The Rivard Report invites them to share their thinking and their plans. The city’s growing community of river users would welcome that communication, I’m sure.
*Featured/top image: Cyclists disobey signage to walk their bikes on a stretch of the Eagleland Reach. Photo by Robert Rivard.
Related Stories:
Sharing the San Antonio River A Growing Problem
Slow Down and Share the Path, Cyclists
Síclovía No. 7 Turns East to Dignowity Park
Riding Bikes to the Quarry: A Slightly Treacherous Adventure
I been following the articles too and I agree with all your points, but would like to add a few. 1. Better bike lanes on the roads up top so bikers can ride up their instead of the just safety the walk provides. 2. Additional lanes on the trails; the river has two sides. 3. Marked lanes on the trail – Austin has this on their sidewalks.
Headphone patrol!!!!.. single file patrol!!!!..
I still dont see any reason we should walk our bike in this section
Michael Ayala-just try walking those sections at 10am on a Saturday and you’ll see first hand why.
Michael Ayala – it is narrow, it is downhill (read cyclists get going fast) and it is crowded. That is why. The entire stretch from Blue Star to the Tropicana should be pedestrian only (and this from a cyclist).
It is the attitude that we shouldn’t have to accommodate anyone but ourselves or that rules don’t apply to us that is the entire problem on the river. I’ve lived in other cities with significant cycling cultures and have never had this problem as much as I’ve seen it here.
Can we get a Veloway already? Seriously, we need one.
This morning I was walking my dog across the Eagleland bridge. Workers had set up cones so that there was only a very narrow path available for a short stretch. Seeing a cyclist approaching I stepped back and waited for him to pass before I entered the narrow path with my dog. Then another cyclist came while I was well into the stretch. Did he slow down? Walk his bike? Make way for us? NO. he kept riding, pushing my dog and me into the path of the workers – it took a lot of effort to hold my dog back as this cyclist effectively pushed us out of his way.
On the up side, the cyclist behind him very kindly and wisely held back, waiting for me to make my way through before she entered.
“Fast-paced cycling should only be permitted on stretches of the Mission Reach void of people during the day and never after dark.”
I have often marveled at the late night hours observed by big groups of cyclists at high speeds that I can see from my front porch on the Eagleland stretch — 10/11PM, 12/1AM, sometimes many dozens of folks. I think in fairness to those riders they believe it is a time on the river that they can really get going fast safely because almost no one is out walking but god forbid if someone were…between the already low lighting on the river and the darkness of night you could catastrophically collide with a pedestrian you never saw coming.
The comment “People wearing headphones should be able to hear ambient sound so they know when cyclists are approaching” should be elevated to rule status. Every single time we ride we come across multiple standers, walkers, and joggers who do not hear our bells which we ring continuously upon approaching. They are often very startled when we “suddenly” appear next to them and they sometimes jump in the wrong direction — into our path. It’s clearly because they have their tunes turned up. And I suspect they are the same ones who complain about bikers.
6. No headphones. Period.
7. No more than 2 abreast. And 2 abreast doesn’t mean ride or walk 3 feet apart. If you can’t easily touch the person next to you, you’re too far apart.
go jump in the lake
Excellent suggestions, reasonable rules!
Netherlands
My former home. Note the lack of racing gear.
My dog and I, who walk to one side, are often startled by both runners and cyclists and I never wear headphones. I always thought it was a common courtesy to announce when you are passing someone, walking, running, or cycling. It’s amazing that safety and mannered behavior has to be posted. The cynic in me wonders if it will change anything and the optimist hopes that it will.
Rule #6- all trail users will have lights in the dark.
Robert:
You made some good points here regarding the ” Share The River…” blog.
Yet, I only see that it will be a matter of time before some unforeseen accident happens? Then the River Authority or some other government agency might take action or do more to alleviate the congestion on the river extension sidewalk. So as to prevent another unforeseen accident/incident. I don’t want to seem like a cynic but this is what I see happen at times. Before some solution is suggested or implemented.
Whichever, I have seen more foot traffic/cyclist congestion at around dusk. And more lighting along the way between the Johnson Street bridge up to the Nueva Street Dam might be helpful? Therefore, perhaps people who do no hear the upcoming traffic might see their approaching shadows on the sidewalk or the traffic directly as a result of better lighting.
Either way the riverwalk extension is a beautiful amenity. And as there is more foot and cyclist traffic on the sidewalk enjoying this. And it is ours to share and share alike.
Plus, I am sure that this will increase once HEB opens up there downtown flagship store. Especially, for those who may see utilizing the riverwalk will help them get their purchases home.
Daver The Neighbor’
You might be interested to know that the City has paid staff (trail stewards) that patrol several of the Greenway trails by bike, providing first aid as needed, answering questions, and giving general information about trail etiquette (which includes cycling at “safe speeds”). As far as I know, these trail stewards only work on the City Greenways since the Mission Reach is in SARA jurisdiction. The trail stewards are supplemented by volunteer trail monitors (the volunteer program began earlier this year, and unlike the stewards, the volunteers can put in hours at Mission Reach). Both positions are described here: http://www.sanantonio.gov/parksandrec/trail_stewards.aspx/.
I’d be curious to find out whether visible patrolling like this has an effect on cycling speed.