SANTA ANA – City officials and residents are trying to figure out what to do with a “missing link” in the city’s bicycle path network.

The issue of contention for residents lies in a quarter-mile segment along Santiago Creek.

The unpaved walking trail is called a “guerilla path” by neighbors, and some wish to see the section turned into a paved path that would connect Santiago Park to Jack Fisher Park via a trail that passes under I-5.

“The 5 freeway divides our community in half,” said Bruce Bauer, a West Floral Park resident involved with the Santiago Creek Greenway Alliance, which supports the establishment of a trail system along the creek. “We’re separated from the mall, the park … and that quarter mile is a link to all of that.”

The city completed a bike lane in 2011 along Memory Lane between Flower and Bristol streets, leaving two short segments – from the 5 to Flower Street and from Bristol Street to the Santa Ana River Trail – needed to complete the Santiago Creek Trail.

Bauer cites a high obesity rate in Santa Ana and the possibility of bicyclist fatalities as reasons to build a trail along the creek, rather than requiring bikers to circumnavigate on the streets.

Trail opponents, headed by an organization called the Save Santiago Creek Alliance, argue that the proposed path will increase crime, require the city to take private property by eminent domain, cost too much money to build and harm the creek environment.

“The building of a Class I bike trail is an anti-green act that will result in the destruction of one of the few remaining wild greenways in Orange County,” said Ronald Salem, community liaison for the Save Santiago Creek Alliance.

Neighbors are concerned about transients, trespassing and graffiti; opponents believe that building a bike trail will increase crime.

“Bike trails have not eliminated these issues in Orange, and bike trails will not eliminate them here,” Salem said.

The process to amend the city’s master plan requires extensive public involvement and ultimately a decision by the City Council. The city has contracted with IBI Group to assist in preparing the update to evaluate the bike trails.

The city previewed a draft bikeway master plan concept at public workshops held Oct. 10 and Oct. 13, said Karen Haluza, city planning manager.

The draft diagram did not include a connection through Santiago Creek, but rather an on-street route to connect from Main Street to Santa Clara to Flower and then to Memory. Based on feedback, the staff recommended studying the alternate connection through Santiago Creek, Haluza said.

“We are hopeful that our objections were heard,” Bauer said. The bike trail “is a terrible idea from a public safety standpoint,” he said. “It’s ridiculously unsafe.”

Building a trail along the creek would require the city to take property by eminent domain, according to a memo posted in January by City Manager Paul Walters.

Portions of 10-14 back yards would have to be acquired, Salem said.

Members of the Save Santiago Creek Alliance have been accused of being the “1 percent” and “elitist,” Salem said, and have been called NIMBYs; people who theoretically support something, but not when it happens in their own back yards.

About 83 percent of people surveyed by Salem in the Floral Park, West Floral Park, Fisher Park, Morrison Park and Casa de Santiago neighborhoods are against the building of a bicycle trail in Santiago Creek. About 76 percent of those surveyed do not live on the creek, indicating that the majority against the trail are not NIMBYs, Salem said.

Other community members also wish to preserve the natural beauty of the creek, though they agree that building a path along the creek would be more convenient for bikers.

“My husband and I are biking enthusiasts who live directly behind one of the public trails in Santiago Park,” said BÃ©a Tiritilli, secretary of the Park Santiago Neighborhood Association. “We believe a trail behind one’s house is an asset, not a nuisance.”

Tiritilli and her husband use the trail underneath the 5 as a footpath, and sometimes walk with their bikes from Santiago to Fisher Park. Crime would decrease if more people used the trail and if the Police Department had officers patrol the area on horseback, she said. However, a paved trail would not be beneficial for the environment, as the creek serves as a wildlife corridor.

“We are blessed to have such a beautiful piece of nature in our backyard,” Tiritilli said. “Maybe if it had more use by the public, fewer bad guys would use it.”

The Park Santiago Neighborhood Association has a neutral stance on the issue, Tiritilli said.

Both the Save Santiago Creek Alliance and the Santiago Creek Greenway Alliance have undertaken efforts to clean up the creek bed, which involved painting over graffiti and restoring greenery, representatives said.