The fix for one problem can cause another, like a metal post on a park trail that ambushes a cyclist after dark.

The Rosehill Reservoir, near St. Clair Ave. and Yonge St., has a paved recreational trail that runs south from Avoca Ave. and is wide enough to be used by pedestrians and cyclists.

A metre-high metal post sits in the middle of the path, along with a bollard, to keep vehicles from driving on it.

There’s plenty of room on each side of the post for cyclists to safely pass, but it’s a deadly obstacle if a bike rider doesn’t see it.

Gerard Janssen emailed to say he smashed his bike into the post, which “is next to impossible to see” after dark, on the night of Aug. 20, and was lucky to walk away.

He had just swung onto the path from Avoca when the post “came out of nowhere,” said Janssen. “I don’t know the exact speed with which I struck the pole, (but) it was not reckless.

“It scared me and knocked me out of control in the dark. I ended up twisting my legs in the frame and hit the grass, and then whacked my head on the ground.”

Janssen said he was “bruised and banged up (but) I was lucky to have been able to fall on the grass rather than the pavement.”

We went there Monday and found a dark metal post bolted to the pavement. It would be hard to spot after dark, especially if you were clipping along on a bike and didn’t know about it.

While we were there, a parks worker arrived and spray-painted the post yellow, which will make it slightly more visible at night, but not as much as fluorescent paint.

The parks department had a similar problem along the Martin Goodman Trail a couple years ago, with cyclists smashing into bollards and P-gates at Ontario Place and the Boulevard Club.

Eventually, the bollards and one of the gates were removed, after it was decided that cycling safety was more important than keeping out cars.

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STATUS: It looks as if a car could squeeze through on the right side of the post, so why bother? Karen Fulcher, who deals with media for the parks division, said they’re considering installing some other means of keeping cars out that won’t be such a hazard to cyclists.