Biking in Orange County can be dangerous, even fatal.
Last month, an entire family was struck by a drunk driver in Garden Grove, resulting in the death of 5-year-old Jacob Ramirez.
“We would go bike riding every week with the kids,” said Angela Hernandez-Mejia, Ramirez’s mother, at the ghost bike memorial for her son. “We were right about to get home when it happened, the kids wanted to play and it just happened so quick.”
Hernandez-Mejia said she did not think that biking with her family was unsafe at the time.
In Santa Ana alone, 57 cyclists and pedestrians have died since 2020 in transportation-related accidents, with another 17 fatalities in neighboring Garden Grove, according to the Transportation Injury Mapping System.
County transportation officials are hoping to make biking in OC a more seamless, and potentially safer, experience by closing gaps – or breaks between bike lanes or trails that make it challenging to navigate to a location efficiently.
A roughly 4-mile biking and walking trail aims to close some of the gaps between bikeways in both Garden Grove and Santa Ana.
“Closing gaps in bikeways is important because Orange County is suburbanized, where a lot of things are very far apart from one another,” said Peter Sotherland, Active Transportation Coordinator. “It’s common that people have cars to get from point A to point B, but there are a portion of zero car households in the county, so giving people options helps us augment the transit service if buses or the streetcar doesn’t reach their front door.”
“We need that kind of first and last mile connection.”
In a June 2023 study, the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) identified 49 areas across the county where bike gaps exist.
The 4-mile path will travel the Pacific Electric Right-of-Way corridor between Raitt Street in Santa Ana and Euclid Street in Garden Grove, and extend down the Wintersburg Channel to Rosita Park where the Albert D. Salgado Community Center is located.
The project, which is part of the larger OC Connect cross-county bike corridor, is currently in the midst of an environmental analysis funded by a $3 million Active Transportation Program grant from OCTA for an off-street, paved bikeway.
The county transit agency began evaluating the site of the proposed trail last July.
The final cost estimate for design is pending, according to a staff report.
This trail connection is part of a larger effort by OCTA and local agencies to improve the county’s bikeability by linking over 1,000 of miles of regional and countywide trails, including three county bikeway loops in development, known as OC Loops.
The trail may also have some park-like amenities, green open space areas, public art, information stations and other features depending on the size of the space or right-of-way, in addition to safety features.
The original red car pegram truss bridge stretching across the Santa Ana River will also be retrofitted for use in the bike and walking path. These modifications include the replacement of bearings, installation of safety railing, along with raising the bridge to allow for maintenance and emergency vehicle clearance.
The connector’s design is currently being reviewed by project stakeholders – City of Garden Grove, City of Santa Ana, OC Flood Control District, California Public Utilities Commission, the OC Streetcar Project and the county transportation agency.
Advocates for cyclists emphasize that dedicated cycling infrastructure will play a pivotal role in the future of the county’s transportation network.
“Infrastructure is the name of the game,” said Damian Kevitt, Executive Director of Streets Are For Everyone. “Southern California, Orange County especially, is very car-centric. A safe and dedicated route does the most to encourage cycling. Lacking that, you at least have to design roads so that they are designed for all modes of transportation.”
Garden Grove’s “bike network” – the connectivity of their system of bike lanes, off-street trails, shared lanes and ultimately crossings that enable people to bike safely – was ranked as below average when compared to over 2,500 cities surveyed by People for Bikes in 2024.
Santa Ana ranks above Garden Grove on the same list, but is still below average.
“There are sections of Orange County that are like bicycle heaven, they have so many bike lanes and trails,” Kevitt said. “And then there are other sections, like Garden Grove, which is a desert.”
Others note that trails also face limitations, mainly due to overall lack of them.
“It can be hard to bike only on bike trails in Santa Ana because there are not many of them,” said Dorian Romero, Project Director with Santa Ana Active Streets (SAAS). “As a cyclist, you have to become aware of what streets have bike lakes and which don’t. Sometimes there isn’t a complete, safe and accessible route.”
Next month, on Aug. 15, The Bicycle Tree and SAAS will co-host a community forum informing residents of active transportation efforts in Santa Ana at the Garfield Community Center from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m..
“A city having more bike trails does make it easier to get around, but there still isn’t connectivity between trails.”
“City officials and people in government have to remember that people who walk and bike are a really vulnerable population,” said Romero. “We can’t just build an environment for drivers only.”
Erika Taylor is a Voice of OC Tracy Wood Reporting Fellow and photojournalist. You can find her on Instagram @camerakeepsrolling or email at etaylor@voiceofoc.org