Local residents stress bicycle safety & poor road conditions

UPDATE: 7:11 p.m.

While visiting Sky Valley for the past 10 years, Roger Goettling said one of his main routes is Thousand Palms Canyon Road.

Stretching from Ramon Road in Thousand Palms up to Dillon Road in Sky Valley, he said it’s a street he’s had experience helping others on the road.

“Somebody was avoiding a biker, and he ended up flying into the desert, and I used my Jeep to tow him back onto the road because he was stuck in the sand,” Goettling said.

Goettling said the road is popular for both two and four wheels, which is why he said he and others are concerned about the safety of drivers and bicylce riders.

“We see a lot of bikers that have to be avoided because there’s no place for them to ride on the road,” Goettling said.

“The shoulders are pretty rough and cracked up, and they’re very narrow,” Keith Tilley, a bicyclist visiting from Canada said after riding Thousand Palms Canyon road. “There’s lots of sand on the edge of the shoulder, so if cars are passing you driving pretty fast, there’s not a lot of space.”

Goettling said he and other residents would like to see a designated bike lane installed on the road to help make it safe for bike riders who travel on it often.

“I hope that somebody takes this seriously, and does something before we end up having to have a funeral out here,” Goettling said.

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He said residents plan on bringing this issue up to Riverside County officials.

KESQ and CBS Local 2 did speak with officials from the office of late Riverside County Supervisor John Benoit, who said the county is into this issue, and had crews out Friday fixing potholes that formed from recent rain.

If you’d like to read the full statement from Supervisor Benoit’s office, you can find it in an earlier version of this article below.

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ORIGINAL STORY: 5:05 p.m.

Residents in Sky Valley are raising concerns about a popular road used by both cars and bicycles. Now they’re asking the county to repair the road before someone gets hurt. The road in question: Thousand Palms Canyon Road.

Darin A. Schemmer, communications director for Supervisor John Benoit’s Office, sent out the following statement to CBS and KESQ Friday afternoon:

“Thousand Palms Canyon Road is a county road used by residents of Sky Valley and Indio Hills, unincorporated communities of Riverside County. At community council meetings for these areas, residents have suggested the Riverside County Transportation Department look into adding bike lanes to provide safer paths for cyclists in these areas.

“Constructing bike lanes would have to be a long-term project with costs and environmental challenges to consider. With declining gas tax revenues and limited resources for road maintenance, the county transportation department has to rely on grant funds to construct new facilities such as proposed bike lanes. Supervisor Benoit agreed that projects like these, while long-term, would clearly be desirable in helping cyclists safely traverse these popular bicycle corridors, particularly during high tourist season.

“The transportation department has received funding from the state for safety improvements on Thousand Palms Canyon Road. The project would resurface a three-mile segment of the road, add a left turn lane into the Coachella Valley Preserve, widen the shoulders and repair the edge of the pavement. The project is in the environmental stage. While the project will eventually provide four-foot paved shoulders, the department will not mark the paved shoulders as bike lanes since they are restricted in the amount of pavement that can be constructed due to environmental constraints.

“Last week, transportation crews completed significant pothole repairs on Thousand Palms Canyon Road. They are in the area again today to see if any additional repairs are needed.”

Zak Dahlheimer looked into the condition of the road on Friday, and he’ll break down the details for you in live reports on CBS Local 2 at 5:30 p.m. and KESQ News Channel 3 at 6 p.m.