I was right when I said the city needs to post signs on major streets telling cyclists to stop riding on sidewalks. I was wrong when I said the city has no such signs posted anywhere.
Turns out there are two signs ordering cyclists and skateboarders to stay off the sidewalk. Problem is both are posted where most people who live in Sacramento will never see them.
The signs are bolted to yellow wooden walls at the Central Pacific Railroad Depot on Front Street in Old Sac.
They are good signs, clear and unambiguous. One has visuals—red circles with diagonal lines—canceling out skateboards, bicycles and cigarettes.
Those red circles are meant for sidewalk riders who can’t read. I’ve suspected illiteracy among sidewalk cyclists ever since I was almost run over on Q Street last year.
The signs prove the city has the skill to produce signs to help protect pedestrians from cyclists who speed down sidewalks and expect everyone to jump out of the way.
For unknown reasons, the city refuses to post “no bicycles” signs anywhere other than where they will do the least good. Old Sac, for example.
After finding the Front Street signs, I hung around for about an hour to see if a cyclist would come rattling along the boardwalk, spot the signs and dismount.
It was a warm Friday afternoon. There was just me and a sleepy homeless guy. Nobody showed up on a bicycle.
While wasting time on Front Street, I remembered something. City Hall was where I learned there were no signs prohibiting bicycles on sidewalks.
I walk around town a lot. But I couldn’t recall seeing signs warning cyclists to stay off sidewalks. Or signs telling cyclists to use the multimillion-dollar dedicated bike lanes installed on major streets in Downtown and Midtown.
The lanes cost about $3.5 million a mile.
Being an experienced reporter, I decided to formally inquire about the signs. A city spokesperson did some research and said nope, the city has no such signs.
I can understand how the city would forget the Old Sac signs. They’ve been up for years. And I can’t believe the Front Street boardwalk is the site of many collisions between pedestrians and cyclists.
I walked under Interstate 5 and into Downtown Commons mall. First thing I saw was a sign with red circles and diagonal lines. “WALKING ONLY,” the sign says. It orders DoCo guests to walk their bicycles and scooters and carry their skateboards and rollerblades.
Gratifying as the DoCo sign is, it’s not the same as Q or P or J or 19th streets or any other major thoroughfare where pedestrians compete with bicycles, scooters, skateboards, rollerblades and cars and trucks.
DoCo isn’t a place where the city spent loads of money to create dedicated bike lanes, only to have cyclists ignore them and ride on adjacent sidewalks and chase pedestrians into the gutter.
After I passed the DoCo warning sign, I saw a kid riding a bike on the mall. A security guard yelled at him.
The kid veered off.
He pedaled south down a sidewalk and gained speed. He owned that sidewalk. And he knew it.
R.E. Graswich can be reached at regraswich@icloud.com. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram: @insidesacramento.
