echo $annoyingPath | encodeURI

encodeURI.sh

# I actually just pasted this inline as part of a TC buildstep but hey, wanna get the Gist to color coding correctly
encodeURI() {
  # for each char from stdin
  old_lc_collate=$LC_COLLATE
  LC_COLLATE=C
  for c in $(grep -o .)
  do
    case $c in
      [a-zA-Z0-9.~_-/?=&]) printf "$c" ;;
      *) printf '%%%02X' "'$c" ;;
    esac
  done
  LC_COLLATE=$old_lc_collate
  echo
}

encodeURI