Unlocking the park

Some of the locked gates that have become familiar sights to users of Bidwell Park are puzzling. Take one that, on most weekdays, blocks visitors to One-Mile Recreation Area from the parking in the lot on the north side of Sycamore Pool, or another on Upper Park Road near the diversion dam on Big Chico Creek that’s been locked for years, preventing motorists from reaching hot-weather destinations such as Salmon Hole and Brown’s Hole.

Both subjects were raised by Mayor Mark Sorensen during the last City Council meeting as the panel deliberated who should be responsible for hiring lifeguards at One-Mile’s Sycamore Pool—the city or Chico Area Recreation District. (The council approved transferring those services to CARD.) A staff report presented by Ruben Martinez, director of public works, estimated the switch would save the city about $6,000 and suggested directing those savings toward increasing park ranger hours.

Sorensen indicated he’d like staff to consider using the money for alternative purposes—specifically, unlocking the gates in Upper and Lower parks.

“It drives me stark-raving nuts to ride my bike through One-Mile and see people fighting for street parking,” he said. He added that there’s no lack of park users who would readily volunteer to “unlock the blasted gate.”

The mayor then spoke of another long-standing access issue—repairing Upper Park Road and opening the gate near the diversion dam above Bear Hole. Sorensen speculated that it wouldn’t take much work to make it drivable.

“We could take a couple farm boys, a five-yard dump truck and a front-loader, and we could have it done in a day, in terms of fixing the deep ruts,” he said.

Sorensen’s subsequent request for city staff to explore unlocking both gates received support from Councilwoman Tami Ritter, who stressed that “if those savings are realized, I’d really like to see the gates at Lower Park opened.”

Local outdoorsman Douglass Laurie welcomes any talk from city leaders about opening the gate at the diversion dam in Upper Park. During a recent interview, the fisherman opened a California Freshwater Sport Fishing Regulations book and pointed to special guidelines for the section of Big Chico Creek upstream of Bear Hole.

“There’s a fishing season going on right now,” he said. “But it’s impossible to get there.”

For nearly a decade, Laurie has bombarded past and present city staff and council members with his photos and written accounts of Upper Park Road’s deteriorating condition and lack of upkeep.

“I don’t think I’m too much of a wingnut; it’s a reasonable access issue,” he said. “A lot of people won’t speak up because they’re so angry with the city for keeping the park locked. But I’m excited that Mark Sorensen and Tami Ritter seem to be paying attention.”

The city’s website says the gate at the diversion dam is “closed until further notice due to road damage.” Meanwhile, the gate at the entrance to Upper Park Road, near Horseshoe Lake, is closed Sunday through Thursday. Of course, people on foot, bicycle and horseback can bypass both gates. Only motorized vehicles are obstructed.

The gate at the diversion dam has been closed since November 2013, said Dan Efseaff, Chico’s parks and natural resources manager. Prior to that, the rough dirt road beyond was accessible May through October and closed during winter months. (The city used that closure period to conduct maintenance.) But heavy rainfall that November accelerated erosion, washing away much of the soil and gravel from the road’s surface. “Now it’s down to bedrock,” Efseaff said.

When the city closed the gate that fall, most believed it would open again the next spring.

“We thought it would be a temporary measure to do some grading and bring in gravel,” Efseaff said, “but we just didn’t have the budget for it. What’s kind of interesting is that, after we closed the gate, somebody broke the lock, and of the three cars that went up there, one was disabled and had to be towed out. That was a pretty good indication that it isn’t a safe situation for vehicles.”

Somewhat contrary to Sorensen’s assertion that one day’s worth of elbow grease would make Upper Park Road passable, Efseaff is advocating for a more long-term approach. As it is, any gravel brought in to resurface the road would wash away, he said, because a couple dozen damaged or blocked culverts currently prevent adequate drainage.

Because of that, Efseaff is requesting funding for a full redesign of Upper Park Road in the city’s budget for next fiscal year. He believes that a survey and significant engineering improvements to bring the road up to U.S. Forest Service standards would ultimately save money for the city through reduced maintenance costs.

“That would be a far better approach—making sure the gravel we put in there doesn’t wash away because the culverts are blocked up, or need to be replaced or repaired,” he said.

It’s difficult to estimate the potential cost of such a project before a survey is conducted, Efseaff said, but the assessment itself could run $25,000 to $50,000. He hopes to recruit Chico State students as volunteers to offset that cost.

“I know the budget’s tight,” he said, “but if we got the funding we could start the work.”

The gate at the parking lot near Sycamore Pool is another matter. Along with a few other entrances to Lower Park, it’s been closed Monday through Thursday for over a year, which is particularly frustrating for people who want to park their vehicles at One-Mile. After all, motorists can’t access the park from that point. (Again, people can walk or ride around the gate.)

That’s been the status since the summer of 2013, when former City Manager Brian Nakamura’s sweeping reorganization of City Hall cut the Park Division maintenance crew in half, to just four workers, Efseaff said. Given those limited resources, Park Division staff has focused on preparing Bidwell Park for peak use on weekends.

“There are probably more people who clean the bathrooms in City Hall than we have for a park that has close to 2 million visits every year,” Efseaff said.

But that won’t stop the city from unlocking that gate soon, Martinez told the CN&R. “We heard the council loud and clear,” he said. “They want to open up that gate, so we’re doing that as soon as possible.”

Starting Monday (March 30), the gate on the Peterson Drive parking lot will be open seven days a week.