blood_donor

I've always wondered what the City of Manhattan Beach rules were for setting up the "Walk your bike" sign on the bike path.
I've seen it up during the volley ball tournaments and such and can see why it would be a good idea. But I've also seen the sign up for weeks at a time in the middle of winter when there was no one around.

Well I got an idea of what is going on yesterday on 8-14-2013 when I asked a kid who I saw moving the barrier, who looked about 13, why he was blocking almost the entire path with an 8 foot barrier and the separate "walk your bike" sign. He motioned toward a guy in a wetsuit and said "he told me to". It turned out that the guy in the wetsuit was a camp counselor with the city and he had set up the barrier to protect his campers during their lunch break. Never mind that he had left it up for the entire break rather than just the time the kids were crossing. He also only set it up only on one side of the pier which meant that bicyclist were still riding from the opposite direction. He said his boss told him that he could set up the barrier when he wanted. This hopefully this is not the start of a new trend.


I looked up the Manhattan Beach muni code 14.28.140 and it states that a "public safety officer" was to make the decision if it was necessary to set up the bike walk zone. I also found that the fine is $90 for not walking your bike if the sign is up.

TrojanHorse

Walk your dog, not your bike.

What's wrong with the camp counselor just directing traffic on the path while his little lambs are crossing? Yes, what we need is more government to solve a problem that's not a problem.

peckma

The signs are left by the city at the pier and are generally posted on summer weekends. The counselor probably just decided to put them up on his own. You may want to send an email to the MBPD - Manhattan Beach is a small town and the city officials tend to be responsive to concerns raised by its residents (from my experience, having lived here for over 15 years now). I've seen some of the beach camp counselors act as crossing guards to ensure the campers cross the bike path safely - a better solution than just a sign.

skidder

A little different around the Huntington Beach pier and the MUP that passes under it. They have year-round speed limit signs posted as you approach the pier (10mph?), and also flashing lights that warn you to either slow to 5 mph (yellow light) or walk your bike (red light). And the speed limits/lights apply to skateboarders and roller bladers too. Seems to work. Caveat: With PCH just above the beach, not a lot of road bikes will be found on the MUP.

Dunbar

I ride through there several times a week. I usually ignore the sign and ride through slowly in the adjacent parking lot. If it's really busy I'll jump up the hill and take the adjacent alleyway to avoid walking my bike in clipless road shoes. During the week this summer the signs aren't usually up in the morning but are at 5-6pm.

CommuteCommando

I ride the Metrolink through San Clemente and I see "Walk you bike" signs on their beach trail. This is one reason why when I ride through San Clemente, I never take the beach route. There are two sections of the Aliso Creek Bike trail were it is posted to "Walk your bike" through a couple of underpasses. There is nothing out of the ordinary about these that is significantly different than other underpasses, so I ignore them.