I’ve lived near the Atascadero Creek bike path for two years and walk there frequently. During walks before sunset that land me at home when it’s dark, I’ve noticed lots of bike path light posts are out, sometimes many in a row, which makes for long dark spots along the path. This is one reason I don’t bike to work at UC Santa Barbara, since I don’t want to bike home in the dark. It also feels very unsafe when I am walking.
One evening, right at dusk until about one hour after dark (8-9 p.m.) I noted the light poles that were out. Each light post has a label on it that says: “Report Bike Lighting Problems 805-884-8073 or bikelighting@cosbpw.net (Please include pole #)” Then it has a label with the pole number.Some of the pole number labels were completely worn down, so I had to figure out what number they were.
I emailed my list, then when I didn’t hear back for several days, I called the number. The person who called me back said that the email listed is old and not checked anymore, so it was good I called. She then sent me a follow-up email.
Basically, it said that they don’t have enough funding to replace the lights, but that they’ll go and fix the labels so reporting is easier.
What’s the use in replacing the labels for reporting if they can’t do anything about the lights?
They tried to say that the lights likely went off because I checked them in the “middle of the night,” but it was 8:30 p.m. when I noted them, so that’s not the case at all. Also, the lights have been out for as long as I have been walking this path, so it’s neither recent nor temporary.
I was quite shocked that the county doesn’t have the funding to maintain the bike path lights; it seems like a basic safety issue. It’s unfortunate that I have to accept feeling unsafe along the bike path I walk so often around at dusk during the dark fall evenings. I also found it ironic that UCSB is doing CycleMAYnia right now, a major campaign to get more people to bike to work.
I hope one day we can address this!
