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Chico council restores vehicle access to Peterson Memorial Drive, rejects weekday‑closure experiment
Summary
After a six‑month trial closing Peterson Memorial Drive on weekends, council voted 4‑3 to return roads to prior hours and access; staff had presented three options including keeping some closures and a weekday‑closure variant.
The Chico City Council narrowly voted 4‑3 on Sept. 16 to restore vehicular access to Peterson Memorial Drive and related park roads to the configuration used before a six‑month weekend closure trial.
Public Works staff reported on the February trial closing vehicular access to interior roads of Bidwell Park on weekends and holidays. The trial reduced vehicular circulation and eliminated parking access at some picnic sites; staff said no accidents were reported during the trial and that public contacts totaled roughly a dozen, about 70% favoring a return of vehicle access and 30% in favor of continuing closures.
Staff presented three options for council consideration: (A) return to the prior status with roads open daily (with the long‑standing closed segment between Caper Acres and the Nature Center remaining closed), (B) reopen Peterson and part of South Park Drive while keeping specific sections closed, or (C) the inverse of the recent trial (close Monday–Friday, open weekends) intended to preserve weekend picnic access and daytime weekday refuge for nonmotorized users.
Speakers at public comment described competing priorities: accessibility for seniors and people with mobility devices who rely on vehicle access to picnic sites and park amenities, safety concerns and the desire for car‑free space for teaching children to ride bicycles, and worries about wear and tear on the newly leveled Peterson pavement.
Council debate reflected those tensions. Supporters of restoring access argued it preserves equitable access for people with mobility constraints and for families who need to bring gear to picnic sites; proponents of continued closures stressed the benefit of car‑free space for pedestrians, cyclists and people with disabilities and the pavement longevity argument.
After a motion to adopt option A (return to pre‑trial status) carried 4‑3, Mayor Reynolds noted a correction to the staff report wording and clarified the council intended to restore access except for the historically closed segment between Caper Acres and the Deer Pens (the Nature Center area). The motion returns vehicle access to Peterson Memorial Drive and South Park Drive except where those segments have historically been closed. Council directed staff to reflect the corrected language in the minutes.
The decision ends the six‑month weekend closure experiment and directs staff to implement the restored access as described by staff.
