The new hours of use for the one and a half-year-old pedestrian bridge over Koonce City Lake in High Point has had some city residents doing a double-take lately.
The popular bridge connects the greenway in High Point’s Piedmont Environmental Center to High Point City Lake Park and, based on the signage regarding allowable use, it can only be traversed for 30 minutes each evening.
The hours of the park — and thus the bridge — vary according to the amount of daylight at each time of year and, according to the new sign (pictured above on the left ), the bridge is only open from 7 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Of course, the sign is actually supposed to say the bridge is open from 7 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., which are the hours the park is open this time of the year.
However, according to one regular greenway walker who showed up recently at the bridge entrance at 7:15 a.m., no High Point Parks and Recreation staffers had come by to unlock it yet.
“So maybe the 30 minutes is true?” he joked.
High Point has had some other issues with bizarre signage in the area, as the Rhino Times reported at this time last year.
The sign above on the right, for instance, is close to Arnold Koonce City Lake.
At the intersection of Tangle Lane and Penny Road, someone who noticed what was behind the sign changed the words “Dead End” to the more appropriate “Dead Tree.”
That sign was actually more confusing to many as a dead-end sign – because Tangle Lane is no longer a dead end at that point.
Therefore, locals wondered why the sign was there in the first place. Tangle Lane became connected to a subdivision several years ago. However, the dead-end sign wasn’t moved a lengthy block to the west – past a subdivision road intersection – to show that it’s only a dead end beyond that intersection.
At another spot on a roadway running through High Point City Lake Park, drivers are given a competing set of instructions: A sign marked on the pavement instructs them to “Stop,” while the road sign on their right tells them to “Yield.”
It might as well be open 30 min a day. It would be nice if it were open later. Like when Iit actually gets dark not an hour before… It’s not very convenient for access if you are active after work when the days are shorter.
Incompetence at its’ best in High Point.
For some light-hearted entertainment on the cheap, try following road signs to get somewhere without making allowances for obvious misdirections. You can end up in some interesting and unexpected places.
A sign marked on the pavement instructs them to “Stop,” while the road sign on their right tells them to “Yield.” This may be confusing in HP City Park, but observing traffic in multiple roundabouts stopping or Surrendering is normal for many drivers.
Reminiscent of the early days of the pandemic. Everyone was encouraged to get outside on the trails, appropriately socially distanced, to get at least some exercise. But then the gates on the greenway through the middle of HPU were locked.