The gate will prevent bicyclists and pedestrians from passing under the North Stone Avenue bridge and continuing west beyond Tucson Mall, but they will be able to climb through. The quarter-mile gap by the mall is one of the few remaining paths on the famous trail built by the Pima County Regional Flood Management District.

Truth be told, it's a good thing people can't go any further, at least in the current situation. There was nothing but trash and mud under the bridge, and on Thursday afternoon a man was hunched over, his head down as if doing yoga. Perhaps it was the effects of the “blues,” or opioid drugs, that have gripped so many people.

This area near the Tohonotadai bus stop is one of the trouble spots along the Tucson area's justifiably famous Chuck Huckelberry Loop. People gather in the area to sell and trade drugs, sometimes living in camps, but the situation has improved in recent months.

Some of the same attributes that attract many riders, runners, and walkers also attract people who do drugs or are looking for a place to sleep and pass out. Most of the loop is close to, but remote from, city services such as stores, streets, bus lines, and restrooms. It is located near a rough corridor of riverbeds and washes, protected from cars and open to stunning views of the surrounding mountains.

This is a great place to bike, and a handy place if you're into a heavy drug habit.

Damion Alexander rides this loop every day and is a big fan and promoter of the trail. But he knows strange things can happen in the few areas frequented by drug users.

“Some people passed me and I slowed down,” Alexander recalled. “As soon as I passed him, he stood up and started blowing, so I swallowed a mouthful of something that made me gag and my face started to sting.”

When out-of-town friends come to town, he warns them not to ride near the Tucson Mall and two areas east of the Santa Cruz River, from near Grant Road to south of Congress.

“I think anyone who comes here should go to these two areas on opposite sides,” he says.

Problems with loops

But even on the north side of Lilito near Tucson Mall and other areas further afield, unpleasant obstacles and experiences can sometimes arise.

Larry Morgan was driving west on the north side of the Rillito River in bright sunlight on June 23, wearing dark glasses. He said he passed under the Stone Avenue bridge and suddenly saw a group of men and bicycles lying across the road.

“I hit the bike, went over the handlebars, went over his bike and fell onto the sidewalk,” Morgan recalled. “There were five or six homeless people there.”

One of the men helped push Morgan over the fence, but that was the extent of their help, he said. Morgan ended up yelling to a passerby on the bridge above for a phone to call for help. It turned out he had a fractured femur, collarbone and three broken ribs, and it took at least 90 minutes to get help.

Morgan admitted he was traveling at around 15 miles per hour when he passed under the bridge, and the sudden change in lighting was also a factor. Speed ​​is a common theme in collisions at The Loop. But nothing would have happened if the bikes hadn't been scattered on the road.

I don't want to give you the wrong impression about The Loop, but it's mostly great. There have also been few reports of conflict along the Baraza Aviation Highway, another area where people have recently set up camps.

But people encountered some pretty ugly stuff during The Loop. The county's social media team made this known. I asked on Facebook last week. What's the weirdest thing a Loop user has seen?

Most of the responses concerned the behavior of drug users and campers. People passing out across the street, people defecating, people having sex, and of course people using drugs.

Randy Jardy, one of the Loop riders who responded, said his biggest fear was running over someone on the road. He had encountered such people twice while riding the Loop Line at night, but admitted it was against the rules. The same goes for the person lying across the road at night, he pointed out.

“You don't want to hurt anyone. And I'm sure they don't want to get run over,” he told me via Facebook.

Bicycle patrols reduce drug dealing

City and county officials have made some progress in the area surrounding Tucson Mall. Councilor Kevin Dahl said the situation there was “more like an open-air drug market than homeless.”

Dahl's office used discretionary funds to pay for bicycle patrols in the area, first with a three-month pilot project and then with another three months. It made a difference.

When I spoke to people in Tonodadai over the past two weeks, most said the area was more orderly than it was a few months ago.

“Bicycle officers were far more effective than police patrolling in cars,” Dahl said in an email. “Officers were able to observe from a distance and enter the scene of a transaction before the drug dealer or customer knew they were there.”

However, sometimes jurisdictional issues arise. The loop was constructed by the Flood Control District, but most of it is within the city of Tucson or other incorporated cities. In some cases, one jurisdiction may require another jurisdiction to respond.

“It adds more complexity,” says Eric Shepp, head of the flood control district and a friend of mine. “We need to know what jurisdiction that activity falls under and refer it to the appropriate law enforcement agency.”

The geography around the Rillito River is particularly complex, with the county and city responsible for adjacent roads and trails. The county has a park staff dedicated to patrolling and maintaining The Loop, and the flood control district spends $200,000 to $300,000 annually on cleanup.

“We have a process that goes around local waterways and cleans up camps,” Shepp said. “The complaints are getting a lot of attention in The Loop because they are coming from people in The Loop.”

As long as drug abuse is prevalent, we're probably going to see some bad experiences in The Loop. But there's also the idea that more legal activity in places like the Tucson Mall area — more bikers, pedestrians and runners — would curtail illegal and problematic behavior.

The problem with the mall area is that the mall itself owns the land all the way to the south bank of the Lilit River. Because it's private property, both the landowner and the mall's management company would need to approve extending the loop along the north edge of the mall's parking lot.

The flood control district made such a proposal early last year. A simple, reversible solution would be to make the outside lane of his four-lane road, which runs along the edge of the mall's parking lot, an extension of the loop, perhaps separated by barricades.

The landowner has approved it, but the mall management has not so far. That leads to scenes like the one photographer Mamta Popat and I saw on Thursday. A spandex-clad father and son from Ohio found themselves standing in front of a gate, looking under the Stone Avenue bridge, wondering where to go.

They asked us which way to go west and gave us directions over the stones and through the mall parking lot.

Bobby Burnell, a more regular local rider, said traversing the stones on his usual route was “a pain”. He is always conscious of being hit by a car.

“I try to avoid parking lots,” he said. “We should go under the bridge.”

You won't know if closing that gap will lessen problematic interactions in that area until you try. I think any reversible solution is worth trying.

But solving the broader problem of substance abuse and the occasional rider conflicts around The Loop will require sustained efforts like those we helped with near Tucson Mall and Tohono-Tadai Station. . We need more eyes, more reporting, and more official response, regardless of jurisdiction.

That should at least prevent these issues from destroying The Loop's recipe for success.