Pickleball and Pooches: A Walk on the West Side

Our Piedmont Recreation Department’s Walking on Wednesdays group likes to go to places of interest around town, and last week there were a couple of things on the west side of town to see. They were the Linda Park Off Leash Dog Area that is being closed and the Linda Pickleball Courts that are being resurfaced. There was a big turnout of 54 walkers and four K-9 best friends at the Exedra last Wednesday to check them out.

However, before we went off to see these places, we had a special, pre-walk event that Priscilla W had set up with Peggy S. Piedmont’s sidewalks are often uneven and sometimes dangerous. Peggy is a physical therapist and 30 minutes before our regular start time she shared strategies and actionable items to maintain stability and keep us from falling. She followed these thoughts with some simple fall prevention exercises. Almost all of us got to the Exedra in time for some of Peggy’s talk and everyone appreciated it.

The City Council had been considering the closure of the Linda Beach Off Leash Dog Area. City staff had been contacted by the San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board on February 6th about a complaint regarding soil and animal excrement washing down the city’s storm drains. It could have cost the City as much as $66,000 per day in fines if this issue was not addressed.

The Linda Park Off-Leash Area was designated by a City ordinance in December 2000. It was often closed during periods of heavy rainfall when the soil became muddy and unstable. According to City staff, the area’s sloped hillsides may never have been a good fit for dogs. Staff had recommended the City Council approve the area’s permanent closure, and the council members voted unanimously on April 7th to move forward with it. A second, final reading was on April 21st, the Monday before our walk. The Council did pass the closure, and the ordinance will go into effect in 30 days. Some walkers spoke against the closure, and we were interested in seeing the area.

Additionally, the Piedmont Public Works Department began a project to resurface and restripe the Linda Pickleball Courts on April 7th. The project will repair and restripe the courts’ surface and remove two trees whose roots were causing uneven surfaces. The courts will be closed for about two months and should reopen this summer. They are across Linda Avenue from the dog area and we could see both on our walk.

We headed out down Magnolia Avenue and could also check the progress on the pool. There were a number of busy workers at the site. We went up Hillside Avenue to the caution lights at Oakland Avenue and safely crossed over two light cycles. Our long line descended Oakland and repeated the same two-step crossing process at Grand Avenue.

Continuing up Oakland we came to the Linda Park Trail with the closed dog area just a little way in. We stopped there and Chuck O told us that this trail was once part of the Key System 11 Train Line route and right-of-way. The 11 went from Oakland Avenue to Piedmont Avenue during the first half of the 20th Century. We then had a conversation about the City’s closure process and possible dog run alternatives. It was noted that the Dracena Park dog run is getting a lot of use by large dogs and showing wear on its slopes too. The closed Linda Park area’s hillside appeared to have been hydro seeded with fertilizer to protect the soil from further erosion and get vegetation growing on the bare ground. The fertilizer smelled like manure, but this was still a good spot for our group photo.

We went up to Linda Avenue, passed a big bed of beautiful California lilac and California poppies in the park, and started down Linda. We passed Beach School students having fun in their playground and crossed Linda to get a closer look at the Pickleball resurfacing project. No work was being done, but the nets had been removed and some work on the surface had started.

At Grand Avenue we went down it to the crossing lights at the Ace Hardware and Fairview Avenue. Before going up Fairview it was noted that this street was the route for the Key System’s 12 Line that went up to almost Oakland Avenue, where the C Line to San Francisco went down what is now Latham Street. From past walks, just about all the walkers know this roadway is the only one in Piedmont called a “street.” We didn’t go that far. We returned to the Exedra via Dale Avenue, Nova Drive, and a safe climb up Magnolia Avenue after sidewalk inspections of three City projects and excellent fall prevention suggestions from Peggy S.