Peters Canyon Regional Park is a piece of the natural world that is open to everyone and is heavily used by walkers, hikers, mountain bikers and horse riders, from all over the County.  During peak periods -- Saturdays, Sundays and holidays -- over 800 people use the Park each day, coming from Orange, Irvine, Tustin, Newport Beach, Anaheim, Santa Ana, Fullerton, Fountain Valley and many other locations -- check the Yelp reviews for Peters Canyon.  A paved Class 1 Bikeway is being considered for the Park (the heavy red line on the diagram) to extend the Mountain-to- the-Sea trail for street bikes, which can't handle the natural multi-use trails.  A Class 1 Bikeway is a minimum of 12 ft wide -- an 8 ft wide paved path with 2 ft shoulders on each side -- and it can be wider.

Does this look like an improvement to you?  We didn't think so.

• The Park is long and narrow.  The Bikeway would be a hazardous addition.
• Pedestrians will have access to the Bikeway, and will need to cross it in multiple places.
• The Park is meant to be a natural space -- half of Southern California is paved already.
• The Bikeway would cause more impact to wildlife. 
• Cycling is a healthy sport and a green transportation alternative.  We support a Class 1 Bikeway extension, but the proposed routing would be a bad -- and a dangerous -- decision, given the size and shape of Peters Canyon, and the heavy visitor load it supports.  It makes more sense to extend the existing off-street Bikeway that runs West of Jamboree, North from Canyon View to Irvine Park.
• This shouldn't be a divisive issue:  both objectives are worth attaining, and we stand a better chance of achieving that if we join forces.  Several of our members are road bikers who also enjoy time spent walking or mountain biking in the Park.

Please  sign our petition to the Orange County Board of Supervisors, and the OC Parks Commission, asking that the character of Peters Canyon be preserved as natural space, and that a Class 1 Bikeway extension be built off-street beside Jamboree.  A piece of this extension is already in place on the West side of Jamboree, above Canyon View North to Irvine Park.  if you're inclined, please consider joining Friends of Peters Canyon at http://www.friendsofpeterscanyon.com.  We're sponsored by the Foothill Communities Association.  Tell your friends!

As a resident of Orange County, I call on the Board of Supervisors and the OC Parks Commission to help preserve Peters Canyon Regional Park as a natural space with dirt, multi-use trails, and to re-route the planned Class 1 Bikeway extension outside of the Park, off-street beside Jamboree Road, continuing the Bikeway that is already present there, which runs North of Canyon View to Irvine Park.