New Fresno policy limiting ghost bike memorials falls flat. ‘It’s a terrible idea’ | Opinion

Since early spring, Fresno’s most visible ghost bike stood as a grim reminder to passing motorists to always be on the lookout for cyclists and pedestrians crossing to and from Woodward Park.

But after being vandalized earlier this month, the ghost bike placed in honor of Paul Moore near the intersection of Friant Road and Audubon Drive in northeast Fresno was removed by park maintenance workers. Now an updated city policy could prevent its return while placing far too rigid limits (90 days) on how long such temporary memorials can be publicly displayed.

It’s as if City Hall would rather avoid the inference that certain streets are unsafe. Unless you’re behind the wheel of a 6,000-pound hunk of metal.

“I think it’s a terrible idea,” said Anthony Molina, chair of Fresno County Bicycle Coalition. “The policy fails to address the value of ghost bikes and the message they sent to motorists about the hazard they present to vulnerable road users.”

Moore, an avid cyclist and retired school teacher, died Jan. 12, 2022, while biking across Audubon during a green light. His death, then the latest in a string of fatalities, prompted me to decry the dangerous streets bordering Woodward Park and call out city leaders to make things safer.

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And whaddayaknow, they actually listened.

More than a year later, on the morning of March 26, family members (after receiving tacit permission from a city parks employee) installed Moore’s ghost bike in a dirt area near the northwest corner of Friant and Audubon.

Using a bike formerly owned by Moore’s close friend and cycling partner, they painted it entirely flat white and bolted both axles to cement cinder blocks that were then buried. A placard with Moore’s name and the years of his birth and death hung from the bike’s top tube.

“Our intent was never to leave it up permanently,” said Diana Moore Durham, Paul Moore’s sister. “But it should be there until the city steps up and improves the safety of these streets.”

The roadside memorial stood until the early morning hours of Oct. 3 (but not so early there weren’t witnesses and photographs) when it was vandalized by an unhoused person who was later transported to a mental hospital.

“He was trying to rip pieces of it off,” Durham said. “They think he was trying to recycle the metal.”

Policy update thwarts family

The individual was unsuccessful but did manage to mangle the ghost bike’s rims and forks while yanking the whole thing out of the ground. Park employees removed the installation and later turned it over to family members intent on making the necessary repairs so it could be returned to the intersection.

Except that’s not what happened.

“We got word the city didn’t want us to put it back up because they were putting a new policy in place, and it wasn’t clear we’d even be allowed to do so,” Durham said.

By no coincidence whatsoever, a revision to Fresno’s citywide policy for “monuments and memorials on city parks, facilities, easements, trails and right-of-way” is listed as a discussion item during Wednesday night’s Active Transportation Advisory Committee meeting.

The updated policy takes a somewhat dismissive view on ghost bikes, lumping them in with flowers, balloons and photographs typically placed by the family members and friends of people who die in car accidents.

Those memorials, spontaneous outpourings of grief, are meant to be temporary. Flowers wilt. Balloons deflate. Photographs rapidly fade in the sun. But appropriately placed and well-maintained ghost bikes deserve more semi-permanence. Simply for the message they send.

“Ninety days is totally an arbitrary number — just an idea that came from someone’s head,” Durham said. “It seems too short.”

It absolutely does. One year sounds more appropriate, and I hope members of the Active Transportation Advisory Committee echo that sentiment. There will also be a public comment period.

No city council approval

Because the policy update is technically an administrative order by the city manager, no city council approval is required.

Fresno City Manager Georgeanne White said the update was a result of “inconsistency” in how rules for all temporary roadside memorials are being implemented citywide. And that the 90-day period came from staff research on other cities’ policies.

White’s staff must not have researched New York, where ghost bikes can stay up for perpetuity as long as they don’t become derelict. Los Angeles, meanwhile, has a roadside memorial sign program placed at the site of fatal collisions containing the victim’s name and a safety message.

In response to my questions, White she would be asking transportation committee members for feedback.

“If they suggest a longer period (for ghost bikes), I’ll listen to what they have to say,” White said.

As it happens, the Fresno City Council last week awarded a $700,000 construction contract to extend the right-turn lanes on southbound Friant at Audubon, which will eventually have a “no turn on red” designation. During the same meeting, another $1 million was awarded for a new traffic signal at Audubon and Del Mar Avenue.

Both those projects will lessen the danger to bicyclists and pedestrians in the vicinity of Woodward Park. But until there’s a ribbon-cutting and things are actually safer, Paul Moore’s ghost bike should remain.