Posted by Bicyclist, a resident of the Menlo Park: Fair Oaks neighborhood, on Nov 13, 2009 at 12:43 pm

I often ride my bike there and the lighting on the Menlo Park side is abominable: one lamppost that shines over a grassy knoll but the bike path is pitch dark. More lights there, and, City of Menlo Park, please, please resurface Alma Street from bike bridge to where it has been resurfaced recently!

Posted by Hmmm, a resident of another community, on Nov 13, 2009 at 1:34 pm

This is very big and important news. Like the EPA gun battle last night, why doesn't this show on the PA Online site as well as here, just like the gun battle?

Posted by Wil, a resident of another community, on Nov 13, 2009 at 2:18 pm

One word, censorship by PA Online.

Posted by pedestrian, a resident of the Menlo Park: other neighborhood, on Nov 13, 2009 at 3:54 pm

Why is the path through that park so winding? If the path went straight over the bridge, criminal activity would be easier to see (and avoid) and also pedestrians could walk through there more quickly. The current design is just a trap, especially during the evening commute hour, which is dark this time of year.

Posted by biker mom, a resident of the Menlo Park: Felton Gables neighborhood, on Nov 13, 2009 at 4:01 pm

Alma between the bike bridge and Willow needs to be resurfaced. I guess it didn't meet some minimum standard for use so it wasn't redone in the last round, but a lot of cyclists use it, and the condition is third world.

I don't know that more lights would have prevented this problem. There is a ton of traffic in that area, lots of dogwalkers and bikers and pedestrians as well as cars. After all, it was 6 p.m., not 2 a.m.

Since at least one perpetrator was caught so quickly, I wonder if the victim knew him. If this was just a random act, criminals hiding to prey on passersby, then that is alarming. This kind of crime is highly rare in Menlo Park, certainly not in a centrally located and otherwise safe neighborhood.

Posted by Interested, a resident of another community, on Nov 17, 2009 at 4:58 am

OK since nobody else has asked the obvious, I will. Is this a gay pickup point?

Posted by Suspicious, a resident of the Menlo Park: Felton Gables neighborhood, on Nov 17, 2009 at 6:29 pm

something is fishy about this story. maybe a drug transaction that soured?