Report on our First Rally at City Council; City Council Very Receptive

Safe Streets Save Lives

Yesterday, nearly two dozen San Diegans took the time out of their very busy schedules to show up in support of us starting a discussion with our elected representatives at City Hall on transforming San Diego into a more livable and safer city. Below is a report of our public comment that was offered as part of the non-agenda public comment period.

Sam Ollinger stated:

Last Thursday, a 53 year old man, a married man, was trying to get to his destination when he was needlessly killed while crossing the 805 interchange at Clairemont Mesa Boulevard. He was killed by a vehicle exiting (sic) off of the freeway to Clairemont Mesa Boulevard. About nine months ago, another San Diegan, David Ortiz, was killed on a parallel street – Balboa Avenue while similarly trying to cross the 805 ramps just trying to work. The reason both these individuals died was because they were struck by vehicles while they were riding a bicycle. And no one bothered to make a safe route for them just to ride so they could get to where they needed to go. We’re all here today because our hearts are broken. It is not okay that we lost another resident last Thursday. We don’t even know what his name is. But his death still affects us. And it should affect us all. It is not okay that we lost David Ortiz. And it is completely inexcusable that we lose another person. I urge City Council to please apply for the needed funding from SANDAG, the state and federal sources to begin work immediately on redesigning these freeway interchanges to be consistent with Caltrans’ own policy to make our streets safer for all users. I urge the city to continue promoting the values of health, welfare and safety by starting the process of obtaining right-of-way access from Caltrans of these exit ramps and entry ramps and to begin working on redesigning these dangerous intersections within this year. In the meantime, please convert these intersections into construction zones complete with orange construction barrels, caution signs, so that drivers are just aware and don’t unwittingly kill another human being who is simply trying to get around. Thank you.

San Diegans demand a better, safer, more livable and bike friendlier San Diego at the rally held on 1/8/2013. Photo: Bob Bandhauer

Councilwoman Lorie Zapf of District 6 who chairs the Land Use and Housing Sub-Committee immediately responded by stating the following:

If I could just make a comment. I just wanted to let you know that both of those accidents happened in my district, District 6, on Balboa, Clairemont Mesa and actually a few years earlier there was a bicyclist on Genesee who had been killed and it was the father of one of the children that my daughter went to school with. So I’m acutely aware of this. It is a priority for me, our family is a family of bike riders and I’m always looking for opportunities for that but we’ve been talking with Caltrans working on this issue. I would like to bring to Land Use & Housing, a resolution – we don’t have all the funding here as you mentioned – a lot of the funding is through SANDAG, Caltrans, Federal grants, but I would like to be even more proactive that when improvements are being made, we should definitely incorporate safe bike routes and look at some of the ways you talked about and anyways we can help get people safely from point A to point B. And we have all this beautiful weather, for goodness sake, we should have the opportunity to ride our bikes. It’s unfortunate it wasn’t planned this way when the city was originally planned and it’s a little, well a lot harder to go back and incorporate it. But I just want you to know it’s an absolute priority of mine and we will, I know Mr. Alvarez  and Council President Gloria that it’s a priority in all of us. So we will be more proactive and try and move this forward. For all of us.

Hans Wangbichler who was one of the citizens also offered a comment and he stated the following:

I used to live in the area between Balboa and Genesee and although I’m a bicycle ride now..it’s like saying someone is a motorist. Well, I’m also a father, small business owner and I’m a resident of San Diego now for over 30 years. I was living in the area before and have been handicapped twice in my life: confined to a wheelchair for six months at a time. Part of my physical therapy was to go to 24 hour fitness at the time…less than a mile from my house and I couldn’t go over the freeway, not just for bicyclists just for pedestrians, for kids, anything like that. And I’ll cut it short there. Thank you.

Nicole Burgess, BikeSD board member and founder of the District 2 Bike/Ped Advisory Committee stated the following:

Thank you and thank you all for being supportive. As much as I represent these guys, I also represent the environment, the sustainability, reducing emissions and as it relates  to the RTP which is being challenged. What I’m asking is that this could be a possible funding source for these bike/ped projects. There is a public comment on January 10th, this Thursday from 12 to 1pm, downtown. We need support from everybody that these funds…if can possibly just stop this current RTP until the new one in three years and dedicate those funds to bike/ped and transit projects. Then we can find funding for these highways, these cycletracks, these separated bike lanes that we need so desperately for our kids. And I also represent District 2 Bike/Ped Advisory Committee. And I would strongly encourage that San Diego get an advisory group along with subcommittees for each of the districts. Because I know it’s a long for me to get to Rancho Bernardo. And I don’t know all the ins and outs of Mira Mesa but the residents there do and they need to get action in their own communities.

Kevin Faulconer, Councilman of District 2, stated the following:

Thank you for coming down to all of our speakers particularly to Nicole. One of my staff, Mr. Patton will be there on Thursday at that meeting. And I just want to thank you again Nicole for all the work that you do. She mentioned she is on the District 2 group and I had the pleasure of…I guess a month and a half ago, we rode numerous streets together particularly to and from our kids safety. She pointed out common sense changes we can make without a whole lot of money. Some of those we’re working on now. Some of them take a little bit longer but that’s how it starts. On what can we do right now. And then, what should we be doing for longer term particularly for bike safety and separated lanes. Thank you.

I Bike. I vote. Photo from the last memorial ride die-in held at City Hall.

David Alvarez, Councilmember for District 8 then stated the following:

Just briefly. As I happened to ride my bike into work today just reflecting on what you’re sharing, it’s…it gives you a different perspective just thinking that I was on the road today and luckily – I’m here. But, I’d like to let you know that I’ll hopefully be joining you on Thursday at the RTP meeting. I’m glad you brought that to my attention to make sure that we have a strong coalition of folks both from elected officials and the community making sure that this issue is at the forefront of the decision that is going to be made at SANDAG. So thank you for coming.

Council President and District 3 Councilman Todd Gloria then stated the following:

I’m grateful that you’ve come. I think a lot of the advocates and leaders in this community know that this is an important issue for myself and for my district. And many of my colleagues have shared this in the past…the way I feel is that the other modes of transportation always show up at public hearings. Unfortunately many of our laws are created such that cars are always accommodated in every project, every time. The way that that changes is when folks like yourself show up and demand change. So I’m grateful that you’re here to help those of us that want to see change…Thursday’s obviously incredibly important. SANDAG is incredibly important. And again I’m grateful that you’ve come down. It leaves an impression that’s very very powerful. And please don’t make this your last visit. We need you here very frequently. Thank you guys very very much.

District 9 Councilwoman Marti Emerald then concluded by stating the following:

Just a brief comment that you recall earlier this morning we approved applications to SANDAG for about $5 million in grants. And we’ll keep pushing for that to keep the money rolling into, especially our mid-city area and some of these more hazardous areas where we have freeways and city streets colliding. Well, hopefully not literally but you know what I mean. So, we’re here for you. And thank you for coming down and keeping this on the front burner. We appreciate it.

Later yesterday, Councilwoman Zapf tweeted that Balboa Avenue would be getting green bike lanes implemented by March.

However, while green bike lanes provide a visual cue on where bikes will be expected (assuming the surface of the roads is well maintained and not littered with debris), it doesn’t provide the safety benefits that protected bike lanes would. Further more, the key issue in Clairemont is the high speed merge areas that bicyclists have to contend with when crossing each of the freeway ramps in addition to the lack of protected bike lanes. It was with the goal of wanting protection from vehicles exiting and entering the freeways at high speed that we asked for an immediate reprieve by wanting the ramps along Balboa Avenue and Clairemont Mesa Boulevard to be converted to a construction zone areas and to acknowledge the reality that redesigning these high speed merge areas would take a long while. But rather than letting the public outreach process hold up safety improvements, ensuring that these deadly sections of these surface streets were immediately changed would visually and physically indicate to all road users that they needed to be additionally cautious as they navigated these ill designed sections of our city. We suggested orange construction barrels because they could better withstand impact from an automobile more than a simple sign or a traffic cone could. This suggestion has not been implemented to date.

We also want to thank everyone who took the time to call or email their elected representative and Councilwoman Zapf’s staff on why redesigning these deadly areas of the city is of paramount importance. To conclude, we received an email last night from a Clairemont resident who explained in no uncertain terms why redesigning these sections of the roadway was important and needed:

I am deeply saddened by the tragic and unnecessary death on my street a few evenings ago. I do not drive and ride my bicycle to work every day. A few weeks ago, I was nearly hit while in the crosswalk in the northbound on-ramp to 805 at the same overleaf. I was always riding on the sidewalk to avoid merging with traffic. I know this is not legal, but I have seen texting drivers swerve into bike lanes and speed too many times to trust riding on the street. Every since, I have been putting my bike on the bus to get over the 805 Clairemont Mesa intersection. Way too many pedestrians, drivers and bike riders have been hit and killed within this area. It is like a war zone between 50 mile per hour crazies and the residents. How many more need to suffer here? I feel terrible for this man’s family.