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 aggressive.

U.J. Ken, the town’s public works director, told the committee staff and engineers had inspected Chaparral and agreed the current condition raises safety concerns. Ken said the road is privately owned but subject to a public pathway easement, and that formally prohibiting bicycle use would likely require an ordinance change, a public hearing and council action. “We could restrict bikes on Chaparral, but it has to be an ordinance change; first we should try signage and evaluate if that helps,” Ken said.

Committee members and residents discussed a range of responses — from speed-reducing devices and mirrors to a broad ordinance change — but members emphasized the practical limits of enforcement on a narrow, partly private road. The committee favored a staged approach: install official National Park Service–style priority signs (bicycles/horses/pedestrians), add messaging such as “stay to the right” and an advisory slow speed for cyclists, and monitor whether the measures reduce unsafe behavior before recommending more disruptive or costly options.

A motion to request town staff place a priority sign at the top of Chaparral, include wording about right-of-way priorities, mark the road as private and add an advisory speed and “stay to the right” instruction passed by voice vote. The motion was moved and seconded on the record and recorded as passing unanimously.

The committee also reviewed routine project items. For a proposed work at Magdalena, a member moved that the committee recommend “roughening” the driveway apron where it crosses the pathway and require the pathway be shown on the site plan; that motion was seconded and approved. On Conejo Court, the committee recommended that the applicant ensure the existing pathway along Ascension is brought up to code as a condition of approval. Members asked staff to confirm those conditions with planning and to include required language in permits.

Committee members agreed to several follow-ups: staff will work with Tom McReynolds (a resident who offered to help select a sign location) to identify precise sign placement on Chaparral; staff will check sign inventory and expedite an additional order; and planning staff will circulate site plans to the committee for review before future meetings. The committee also voted to remove member Mike Henshaw from the committee because of ongoing personal obligations; the removal will be placed on the council agenda for formal approval.

The meeting closed with the committee setting action items and scheduling a follow-up at the next regular meeting. Staff said in-house construction work on other pathway projects (Altamont, Magdalena) is planned for spring, subject to right-of-way confirmation and budget constraints.

Key documents cited during the meeting included a recorded dedication of a pathway easement and a 2011 resolution modifying that easement, which committee member Carol located and referenced for the record.