So we have this public bridge that links a large equestrian district to some horse trails in a public park (Griffiths Park in LA). This is a suspension bridge over the LA river where the cars are a prohibited. There is another bridge about a mile down the road which is usually busy with cars getting on/off the freeway, getting into the park, etc etc. The bridge by the equestrian center has a soft sand/bark type of the bottom surface. Roadies really cannot ride it but someone on a mountain/cross type of a bike could use it to get into the park without having to dodge cars. I'd guesstimate that the bike traffic on that bridge is pretty low on average.

A few months ago some local loudmouth equestrian asked the local city council to ban the cyclists from the bridge. Her reasoning was that the bridge was built specifically for the horse riders to use and the animals can be spooked by the bikes. The council vacillated for a while, but eventually caved in and banned all two-wheel traffic from the bridge.

Looking at it, I am kind of feeling that the city council may have overstepped their authority since this was a publicly funded construction, sitting on a public land and so on. Now here is a local cyclist who's purposely trying to get a citation to have this case heard before the local court (details here). Do you think that he can succeed in his challenge? Is this the right strategy?

Your thoughts, ST?

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