Letter to the Mayor re: District 2 Recommendations for Transportation Actions as COVID-19 Response
“Given the emergency physical distancing requirement, coupled with fewer cars on our roads, we need to acknowledge that people will be outdoors for a little personal exercise, and our responsibility is to make sure that it happens in as safe a manner as possible,” said Councilmember Dan Kalb, chair of the City’s Public Works Committee.The City of Oakland will work closely with neighborhood residents and community organizations to install signs and temporary barricades along Oakland Slow Streets and at key intersections. Residents will also be encouraged to print Oakland Slow Street signs and post them in their neighborhoods.
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Mission Blvd from Pacific Beach Drive to South Mission
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PB Pathways: Phase 1 and 2 (See attached map.)
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Sunset Cliffs Blvd and Cordova Street south of Point Loma Blvd. (This will drastically improve the safety concerns of overcrowding on the cliffs.)
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Bacon Street from Robb Field to Del Monte
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Brighton Street from Spray Street to Guizot Street
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Evergreen Street from Nimitz to Talbot
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Mission Blvd from Law Street to Pacific Beach Drive
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West Point Loma Blvd. from Nimitz to Sports Arena
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Midway Drive
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Morena Blvd
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East Mission Bay Drive and Mission Bay Drive
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Mission Blvd from Pacific Beach Drive to South Mission (This would be an addition or alternative to the above recommendation. Provide a secured parking lot for residents to use if residents have parking issues.)
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The north-south bike path on the eastern edge of Robb Field and the car travel lane out to West Point Loma Blvd. (Currently, active commuters have no safe access out of OB.)
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Old Sea World Drive (Restrict vehicles but allow active commuters.)
Completion of the West Point Loma Blvd Cycletrack (eastern segment)
Returning from scientific meetings and a holiday in July, I found the eastern span of the W. Pt Loma Blvd cycletrack completed (Adrian Street to Sports Arena Blvd). This is reason to celebrate. I’m personally happy because my partner’s daily commute to work is safer, and she already sees more bicycle and scooter riders on the track. As a community, Point Loma is one major step closer to having a fully connected bike way between Ocean Beach and Old Town Station. The San Diego River Bikeway currently connects these nodes, but for those that want to access the restaurants, breweries, businesses or neighborhoods between Old Town and OB, this new cycletrack on W. Pt Loma is a potential game changer.
The new cycletrack offers slow and fast riders space to safely maneuver, and generally increases the visibility of traffic at intersections. Turning left across W. Pt Loma is easier than before in the stretches where there is now one full speed (35 mph) travel lane, rather than two, to reach the center turn lane.
There is still room for improvement in the westbound direction as riders cross from Sports Arena Blvd onto W. Pt Loma Blvd. Across the interchange, westbound traffic changes from two travel lanes and a bicycle lane, to two travel lanes with bicycle sharrows, until the street widens back to separated bike lane after clearing the southbound left turn lane. I was taught in driver’s ed to never change lanes within an intersection, and regularly encounter confusion between cyclists and drivers over how to merge through this intersection.
All in all, I enjoy this new W Pt. Loma route more than ever. I look forward to completion of the western segment so that I too can enjoy a safer daily commute. I often pass people or dogs walking in the new cycletrack, and with ample space to pass, it feels like the street is more accessible to all. The western segment will also improve Rue de Orleans and W. Pt Loma Blvd - one of the more dangerous intersections identified as one of the ‘Fatal 15’ locations where repeat fatalities occur. These ‘Fatal 15’ inform the city’s Vision Zero approach for targeted pedestrian safety improvements.
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West Point Loma Blvd bike lanes: still no approval from PCPB
On Thursday night, staff from San Diego's Traffic & Storm Water Division (TSW) presented slides detailing the West Point Loma Blvd bike lane project to the Peninsula Community Planning Board (PCPB). The project encompasses a "road diet" on a 4-lane-wide stretch of West Point Loma Blvd., reconfigured to a 2-car-lane street with a Class 2 bike lane (paint-buffered only) and other traffic calming measures. This was the third presentation since October 2018 made by the city to the Peninsula community board about the West Point Loma Blvd. bike lane project. TSW's slideshow gave PCPB the results of their detailed traffic analysis, parking study data, lane configuration drawings, and Level of Service (LoS) impacts — all of which showed minimal impacts on drivers along the corridor — in an effort to win approval from the community board for the project.
Unfortunately, the PCPB did not approve the project, though it also did not make a motion of denial.
Speakers in support of the project from BikeSD and San Diego County Bicycle Coalition urged the board to approve the bike facility. There were also others, including local residents on West Point Loma Blvd, that also spoke in favor of better bicycle facilities along this corridor.
There were also a handful of residents that were opposed or had questions. Two audience members took issue with the term "road diet," and insisted that this should be called a "lane removal." Board members' questions focused on issues of traffic delay, the 'back-in/angled parking' configuration, the decline from a Grade B to a Grade C 'Level of Service', and the 'math not working out' when a car lane was removed. These questions were challenging for TSW staff, who gave technical answers that didn't mollify critics on the board.
Many of the PCPB board members shared desire for better bicycle facilities but still wanted to critically discuss specific design elements. Nicole Burgess of BikeSD said, "I think some them truly want to be traffic engineers."
In the end, there was no vote on the project but the board passed a motion calling for the City to return and discuss it further at the PCPB Transportation Subcommittee.
Nicole Burgess wrote San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer immediately following the meeting, "I believe the City has done due diligence and provided adequate information as they have presented three times now at the PCPB. Also, as a reminder, the OB Planning Group unanimously supported a road diet to provide safe bicycle facilities."
BikeSD believes that Level of Service (LoS) should not be the focus of presentations about bike infrastructure, just as it has been removed as a valid topic for CEQA studies. LoS leads to a very narrow discussion about the impact on drivers and travel-time rather than safety and the equitable use of public rights-of-way. Instead, the Vision Zero Systematic Solutions for Safety should be the leading guideline for these types of improvements. We can not let Community Planning Groups make final decisions for the safety measures needed for our streets to meet Vision Zero and CAP goals.
The West Point Loma bike facility was originally proposed by the Bicycle Advisory Board back in the spring of 2018, with unanimous support for the project. For the safety of all road users, BikeSD is hopeful that Mayor Faulconer and Councilmember Jennifer Campbell will advocate for this type of improvement in their community. We applaud TSW's proposed striping plans and believe this Class 2 bike lane is an essential piece of the puzzle to fill in the gap along this corridor.
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Police Seek Hit and Run Driver Who Left Bicyclist Critically Injured in Ocean Beach
The family of Katie Conner is pleading for a hit-and-run driver to come forward after Conner was struck on October 12th, critically injured, and left for dead on the side of the road at the intersection of Sunset Cliffs Boulevard and West Point Loma Boulevard in Ocean Beach.
Katie’s injuries were severe, having suffered serious head trauma. Katie has thankfully survived after multiple surgeries but she is still in the Intensive Care Unit. Of her surgeries, Katie has had doctors operate on her brain and perform a tracheotomy. Katie’s parents have flown in from Baltimore to help care for her.
San Diego Police say a driver in a white pickup truck with a camper shell failed to stop after running Katie over Sunday October 12th as Katie rode her bicycle home.
While the family hopes the driver will ultimately be held accountable, what they want most is for Katie to fully recover.
Katie had recently moved to California and was excited to join our growing bike movement and had found a cause to support with Team Cretins AIDS/LifeCycle, a bicycling group that plans to ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles to raise funds to help bring an end to AIDS and raise awareness towards HIV prevention.
Katie's recovery will be a long one and there will be extraordinary expenses exceeding health insurance and family resources according to a fundraising page Katie’s family has set up to help assist the family and Katie’s during this difficult time. A fundraiser is also scheduled for November 1 at the Ocean Beach Pizza Port where 20 percent of Pizza Port's profits that day will be donated to help Katie's family.
San Diego police say the incident is under investigation but have not released any further information. If you know anything, please contact the San Diego Police Department at (619) 531-2000 or (858) 484-3154.
Earlier this year California Governor Jerry Brown vetoed three bills that would have improved safety for people riding bicycles and other road users. Governor Brown vetoed these bills in the final hours before the deadline of the legislative session. These bills all passed the legislature unanimously or with few no votes. Two of the bills would have increased penalties for convictions and one would have made it easier to catch hit-and-run drivers. The California Bicycle Coalition’s Capitol Year in Review explains the governors veto reasons and the reluctance of the legislature to override gubernatorial vetoes.
Team Cretins early this morning updated Katie’s status in a Facebook post stating:
“After being struck down in a hit-and-run accident and spending the last 7 days in the ICU undergoing several surgeries and procedures, we have good news! This morning Katie opened her eyes and followed commands! She gave her family a huge thumbs up when asked! She also followed the sound of her Mothers voice and looked towards her! The family is very grateful for everyone's positive thoughts and prayers. Keep it up:) and Go Katie Go!”
Again if you have any information please contact San Diego Police. Our sympathy and hopes for a speedy recovery are with Katie and her Family.
Update: The U-T has a writeup about the crash.
Channel 10: Driver who struck and injured cyclists has a criminal history
Yesterday evening, a group of cyclists riding on the popular Fiesta Island, were struck by a drunk driver who was driving the wrong way. Thankfully, no one was killed.
KTLA describes Fiesta Island as follows:
Fiesta Island Road is one-way throughout the island, which is a park within Mission Bay. It is regarded by cyclists as an especially safe place to ride.
Yesterday, in the one safe haven for cycling in San Diego, people were seriously hurt.
Channel 10's Melissa Meckjia has uncovered that the driver, Theresa Owens, has both a criminal history and a history of driving under the influence (DUIs). Owens is currently behind bars. Bail is set at $100,000.
A local cyclist and attorney, Mike Bomberger, stated that the victims were unlikely to recoupe medical costs from the driver,
"I'm fairly pessimistic that she has insurance," he said. "A lot of the people that I spoke to that were on the scene, said it looked like the driver lived out of her car. Even if people have uninsured motorists coverage, they often times don't carry enough."
This was our statement we released to Channel 10
"The driver who drove the wrong way on Fiesta Island needs to be charged and the incident fully investigated. The driver has to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, given that she was behind the wheel despite having multiple DUIs. The SDPD is undergoing a severe crisis of leadership right now and this is a terrific opportunity for them to demonstrate that their promise to serve and protect also extends to people who ride bicycles. Drinking and driving should be penalized and drivers who are inebriated should not be permitted to get behind the wheel of a machine that can hurt or kill."
Not unlike Marjie Barnes-Grant, the cyclists injured last night are unlikely to see justice.
It's time for the San Diego Police Department and our local government to step up and do its job. DUI enforcement efforts have to be increased and penalties have to match the damage that a motor vehicle causes on society. A privilege to drive granted by a drivers license isn't a right to drive, especially when a massive and callous disregard for human life is shown.
Update 8/14/2014:Re: Fiesta Island crash. Spoke to SDPD, they intend to recommend prosecution to fullest extent of law. Case will be submitted to District Attorney's Office in three days