Mixed messages at the Lake Worth beach...

There are signs like this here and there, scattered about our beach property. I brought this up under public comment at the Commission meeting when they were setting rates and other policies for the beach. This particular sign is on the south part of the property, near the new bathroom building and right by the southern drop-off circle. I cropped it from this picture. Especially pay attention to the penalty: $500 fine or 60 days in jail.

Look what is in the background.

That's right. In the left side of the picture that is a bike parked at one of the new bike racks right off the asphalt "sidewalk or pedestrian walkway."

Signs like this are called "sharrows" and appear along this asphalt path (below). In this location, it means that the pathway is supposed to be shared with pedestrians. If you see it on regular road, it sends a message to drivers of vehicles that bikes are present and you are sharing the road with them. There are others like this around town and at the beach.

Are you satisfactorily confused yet? There's more. These are bike racks installed at the southern extent of the sidewalk that runs along the entire area alongside the beach. There is a bike being stored there when I took this picture.

Whoever parked their bike there violated the bike ban on "sidewalks and pedestrian walkways." Did I mention I happened to be on my bike at the time too? Well, I was. And another gentleman was on his bike, on the sidewalk, just out of this picture to the left. This is another sharrow that is north of the pier on the same asphalt path.

Here is another set of bike racks near the pavilion and the children's play area. To use these, you would need to have your bike on the sidewalk.

My suggestion would be to remove the current red and white signs and eliminate bicycles from the prohibited items with rolling wheels. I believe the intent is to stop those other things with wheels from using railings and outdoor furniture as ramps and obstacles to jump over. If they don't, the city is sending a mixed message to bicyclists (there is also a bike rental now on the weekends on the SIDEWALK in front of the pool building) and pushing them to ride behind parked cars that are facing-in, through the parking area. This is probably one of the most dangerous areas to ride a bike - behind a parked car at a 90 degree angle where the driver has an obscured view of what is to the left and right behind the car.

Then there is this. The asphalt that runs in front of the bathroom pavilion on the south part of the property is already being pushed up by roots from the adjacent silver buttonwood trees. This asphalt may be a year and a half old, about the same age as the trees.

I hope that this makes it on somebody's punch list.