"Missing link" bike/ped path in City Park (New Orleans) funded

     



A .6 mile bike/ped path has been funded for this stretch of Marconi Ave. along the western border of City Park New Orleans.  The path will provide cyclists and pedestrians a way to avoid the busy traffic on the narrow Marconi Dr. and will connect with a completed path along Marconi Dr. from Harrison Ave. to Robert E. Lee Blvd.

   

   Path is now open.  I walked it 8-6-2021. There might be a few little things to do, like some direction signs, but cyclists and walkers are using it now.   

  Construction of a .6 mile concrete bicycle/pedestrian path in City Park along Marconi Ave. is nearing completion.   It connects Harrison Ave. and Zachary Drive and when finished cyclists and pedestrians will be able to ride the five mile perimeter of the northern half of the park without having to share a road carrying heavy traffic.

   The new stretch will give safe access for walkers and cyclists to the tennis center just to the east and the sports fields between Marconi Dr. and the Orleans Canal levee though they will still have to cross the heavy traffic on Marconi to reach their destination.

   Wet weather and delays in the delivery of  wood  for several boardwalks that will be built  to help with drainage in the new trail,  have delayed the opening day of the trail to sometime in midsummer 2021.  The boardwalks will be built in the gaps that now exist  in the concrete that has been poured. 

  A .9 mile stretch of Zachary Taylor Dr., parallel to and north of I-610 will be used to connect Wisner Ave. paved path with the new paved section.  Zachary Taylor Dr. is a lightly traveled road in the park, and should accommodate the non-motorized traffic safely without modification, park officials say.

  Some sections of the loop have been finished for several years.  The Wisner path between Bayou St. John and Wisner Ave. connects Robert E. Lee Blvd. and Esplanade Ave. at the main entrance to the park.  A highway bridge with a separate bike path crosses over the I-610 and the railroad tracks.  In 2018 a mile stretch along Marconi linking the Robert E. Lee with the shared path on Harrison Ave was opened.  And a separate concrete path running the length of the park's northern boundary connecting the two.

           (A broad sidewalk, .9 miles may someday be built along Zachary Taylor Dr. for pedestrian traffic. There is no room for a parallel paved path along Zachary Taylor Dr.  park officials claim  but traffic is mostly light along the lane and should not present a hazard for cyclists using it they add)
           The project will cost a little north of $900,000.
      

Some of this greenery will have to be chopped to make room for a new, wide sidewalk on Zachary Taylor Dr. in City Park New Orleans.

           A paved path threading through the stately live oak grove flanking the busy roadway will be greatly appreciated by cyclists and pedestrians.
           The long-awaited  expansion to the park's sculpture garden has just opened to rave reviews and it appears that the new Children's Museum, across the street, will open on schedule later this summer (2019).
          Remember the City Park streetcar ends at the main entrance to City Park at Lelong Ave.

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Jeff Parish Lake Pontchartrain Bike Path "Slips Up"

          If for you bicycling the nearly 10-mile long bike path along the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain in Jefferson Parish is an infrequent pleasure you may not be aware of a slick spot at the Causeway underpass that has suddenly developed.   A small leak in the levee (city side) is keeping a short patch of the levee service road/bike path constantly wet near the bottom of the levee at a sharp turn there.
             Not only would a wet spot in a turn at the bottom of a steep, short decline be a problem all by itself,  this being summer in south Louisiana, a thin carpet of slippery, hard to see algae is growing in the damp patch.   Riders barreling down the levee trying to squeeze every mile an hour they can with the rare opportunity of riding downhill,  have hit that slick patch at 20-25 mph or better and gone down.  One rider I spoke to said this is not speculation: she saw it happen once.
          Where the bike path turns away from the lake and crosses the levee to go under the Causeway is dangerous when dry.  At the bottom of the steep incline are sharp turns.  Gravel collects in those turns and riders risk a spill when trying to make the turn at speed. An unexpected patch of slippery algae on the road/path adds considerably to the risk.
           Most of where we ride in New Orleans is flat as a pancake.  It is hard to pass up a chance to tempt fate by risking a few speedy seconds zooming downhill to have a rare "here, hold my beer while I do this," experience.
          But try.

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Wisner Overpass Bikepath Open

     

Looking northbound from De Saix Ave.
 

            When the new Wisner Avenue Bridge over I-610 and the CN railroad tracks opened last fall only four narrow traffic lanes-- two in each direction--opened.  The bike path, separated from the traffic lanes by a thick concrete wall, remained closed.  It looked like the path designers forgot to connect it with any other path or sidewalk.  To the south the bridge path just stopped, dumping cyclists and pedestrians in the grass.  The north end was close to a service road but the 10-12 foot gap was not paved.
            Now, ten months later, the path on the bridge is open and connected to the existing Wisner Ave. path at the north end and the Festival Park service loop in City Park at the south end. Soon work will be complete on the path connecting De Saix Ave. and Esplanade Ave.  This will complete a River to the Lake Route (Mississippi River to Lake Pontchartrain) route comprised of a mix of bike routes separate from traffic, Wisner Avenue Path) painted bike lanes on streets (Nashville Ave.) and suburban streets with light traffic signed as bike lanes, Moss Ave.
           So just how do cyclists and pedestrians navigate the newly open overpass now?  Heading south on the Wisner path along Bayou St. John, cross Harrison Ave.  Veer to the right to cross the bridge using the path and keep going south.  Both northbound and southbound bike/ped traffic uses the 12-foot bike line.
          If approaching the overpass from the south-- Carrollton Ave., or Moss St. or City Park-- you will not be able to use the stretch of new path connecting De Saix Ave. and Esplanade Ave. because the intersection at Esplanade intersection is not yet finished.  (Maybe in a month or so.)  You will have to detour through City Park.  Keeping Wisner Blvd. in sight, take the path along the eastern side of Big Lake about a 1/4 of a mile and exit at the first opportunity to the north and cross Freidricks Ave.  Right away turn right on to the Festival loop and ride about 100 feet to the spur leading to the right to Wisner Blvd where it intersects with De Saix.  Go up the little incline and wait for the light to change in your favor.  The traffic signals apparently not all installed yet. (none of them can be seen while standing at the end of the spur so be cautious when crossing Wisner to get on the Wisner overpass bike path.
          You will have to be very careful when crossing the intersections.  Both cyclists and drivers will have to figure out who has the right of way, who stops when and where.  This may not be immediately apparent to first time users.
           This brings up a safety issue.  Remember that cyclists coasting on the down strokes of the bridge can easily reach 25 miles per hour coasting.  While on the overpass be very aware of all other users both in front or behind you.  Also remember many users are going to be unaware of your presence because their hearing is blocked because they are wearing headphones.
            Freidricks Ave. (where that snotty little private school is in City Park) connects with Wisner Blvd. but does not cross to connect with the bike path.  A ramp has not be cut into the curb allowing easy access.  That "S" turn on Wisner Ave. is a very dangerous place to be on a bicycle anyway.  Bumpy.  Narrow.  Short sightlines.  Curbs and no shoulders.  Heavy traffic.  This is not a place to have to fiddle with having to get off a bicycle to jump a curb to get out of a busy street.

Wisner overpass bike path looking southbound
 

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A brief review of outdoor, plans, projects and policies begun or finished in 2017

         Before 2018 disappears completely below the horizon of time, let's take a look at the many plans, projects and policies attracting attention of the year just past.  When reviewed altogether 2017 was a bountiful year for lovers of the outdoors in the New Orleans area.

Wisner Avenue Bridge and bicycle side path over I-610  ( The Wisner Overpass)

          The long-awaited opening of the Wisner Avenue Bridge and its much ballyhooed 12-foot wide bicycle side path in the fall of 2017 came and went with only the traffic lanes opening.  The 12-foot wide bike/ped side path, separated from bridge's narrow car traffic lanes by a thick, concrete wall, did not connect to any path at either its northbound or southbound entrances rendering it a path to nowhere.  The day the traffic lanes of the overpass opened, police barricades closed the bike/ped path.
          Construction has begun on  an off-street, paved path along Bayou St. John, replacing a sidewalk there that will connect the bike/ped overpass with the Esplanade Ave./ Wisner Avenue traffic circle.  Access to the two paved loops in City Park; Big Lake and Festival grounds will be via a spur at De Saix Ave.
          When completed sometime in late winter or early spring (2018) the path will provide an off-street bicycle path from the junction of City Park Ave. and the beginning of Wisner Ave. to Robert E. Lee Blvd. just a few blocks south of Lake Pontchartrain.
            For decades cyclists have made the transit from uptown New Orleans to Lake Pontchartrain using the narrow roads with normally light traffic that wind through City Park.  However an increase in visitor traffic and construction of the new Children's Museum and expansion of the Sculpture Garden in the park have increased the traffic on park roads shared with cyclists.  The opening of the path at the edge of City Park will be a welcome coincidence.
           Cyclists who do not want to ride in City Park in the street have two loop trails to ride; the .7 mile long Big Lake Trail and the slightly longer trail around the festival grounds.  They do connect with each other and when construction is complete on the connecting trails to the bridge, the festival trail will connect to the Wisner Trail at the intersection of Wisner Blvd. and De Saix.

New Orleans Bike Share program "Blue Bike" launches

              A program to provide 70 bicycle racks stocked with 700 bicycles that can be rented, ridden one-way and left at a bike rack at the destination, is now underway in New Orleans.  December of 2017 and January of 2018 saw most of the bike stations built and stocked with bikes ready to use.  The stations are largely in the Central Business District, French Quarter, Treme, Marigny, Treme and downriver of Jackson Ave. uptown.  There are seven stations on Esplanade Ave. and two in City Park.
          Tagged "Blue Bike" by sponsors; New Orleans City Hall, Social Bicycles (the company making the bicycles used) and lead sponsor Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana, is expected to fill in that gap transportation planners call "that last mile"  when major public transportation such as buses or streetcars drop transit riders off about a mile from their destination.
          All transactions to reserve and pay for the rental (fees vary depending on income) take place using an app on a smartphone or laptop.  Everything is "self-serve."
          Bad weather in the New Orleans area--record freezing temperatures--have probably dampened enthusiasm for bicycling riding just a "Blue Bike" was ramping up.  But as the weather warms and the program catches on it is expected to make money.  The program will not costs the City of New Orleans--financing comes from Social Bicycles and Blue Cross as well as from bike rentals.