Pathways committee urges priority signage on Chaparral after residents report dangerous cycling encounters

The town’s Pathways Committee voted unanimously to ask staff to install a professional priority sign at the top of Chaparral and to pursue additional signage and outreach after residents described repeated safety problems involving bicyclists on the narrow roadway. The committee also made site recommendations on several pathway projects and approved a motion to ask applicants to roughen a driveway crossing at Magdalena to make it safer for horses.

The committee chair opened the discussion by noting recorded records showing a seven-foot pathway easement on Chaparral but saying the roadway on the ground is narrower and the town has not been maintaining the pathway area. Residents described confrontations and near-misses: resident Rosie Palmer told the committee, “It’s not safe,” and said bicyclists have been traveling over blind curves and gravel where stopping is difficult. Another resident described a confrontation in which a bicyclist entered a driveway and became…