El Cajon green lane, San Diego

Tomorrow: Fight to support GREAT cycling facilities in North Park/Mid-City

Map of Proposed North Park - Mid City Bike Corridor Project Routes
SANDAG's Map of Proposed North Park - Mid City Bike Corridor Project Routes

Tomorrow marks the third installment in SANDAG’s series of North Park - Mid-City Regional Bike Corridor Project Community Advisory Group meetings. According to Bridget Enderle, Associate Active Transportation Planner at SANDAG “The focus of this third meeting will be to review the alignment study results and to discuss the benefits, challenges, and other considerations related to each of the alignment options.” During the past meetings, three main corridors were presented as options: Meade Ave, Howard Ave/Orange Ave and Landis St/Wightman St.

An artist's rendering of El Cajon Blvd with a buffered bike lane looking east at 30th St. Artwork by BikeSD member Aseel Al Huneidi
An artist's rendering of El Cajon Blvd with a buffered bike lane looking east at 30th St. Artwork by BikeSD member Aseel Al Huneidi

As we have reported previously, cycle tracks on El Cajon Blvd have not appeared to be of much interest to SANDAG officials involved in the project, regardless of the overwhelming vocal support they have garnered at the meetings. The main discussion by project leaders has revolved around neighborhood greenways that push bikes off to the side streets. One of the main project goals claims to be “to provide DIRECT ACCESS to schools, transit, community destinations, and commercial centers”. With this stated goal, it would make sense to provide cycling facilities along a major corridor with actual destinations, rather than directing bikes through residential areas.

Here at BikeSD we are pushing for “great” facilities, not just “good enough”. If you love cycling and want to see San Diego progress as a world class cycling city, come out tomorrow and let your voice be heard. Help us fight to transform San Diego into the world’s best city for bicycling!

The meeting starts tomorrow at 6:00:

Tuesday, June 25, 2013 - 6:00 - 8:30 pm

at the

Teen Challenge Center

5450 Lea St, San Diego, CA 92105

 


Uptown Regional Bike Corridor Meeting Today 6pm: Will San Diego Go Big or Fall Flat with University Avenue?

The moment of reckoning is upon us and the decision to support cycletracks along University Avenue will happen later today:

June 12, 2013
6 - 8:30 p.m.
Santa Fe Room, Balboa Park Club
2144 Pan American Road West
San Diego, CA 92101

Earlier this year our city council unanimously committed to prioritizing bicycle infrastructure for public safety with a Council Resolution. Prior to the vote, Council President Todd Gloria (who represents District 3 which encompasses all of the uptown neighborhoods went on the record stating he was willing to "eliminate parking to make space for bikes". But as Gloria went on to state, we can't simply just be on twitter or facebook and expect change. So we hope all of you reading this make the time this evening to show up at the Uptown Regional Bike Corridor meeting. The Uptown Corridor encompasses the area west of Park Boulevard. See the map below:

Uptown Area under consideration. This is the moment to speak up. Image: SANDAG
Uptown Area under consideration. This is the moment to speak up. Image: SANDAG

 

As a board we have decided to advocate strongly for University Avenue to be the key east/west thoroughfare where we want to see transformative changes. SANDAG's analysis that will be presented later today will reveal three options of which one will be chosen: Washington Avenue, University Avenue and Pennsylvania/Robinson Avenue.

University Avenue looks like this today:

University Avenue is the main east/west corridor in the Uptown area. Will you support our efforts to transform this key street? Or will bicycle riders be relegated to a side street with no destination to ride by?
University Avenue is the main east/west corridor in the Uptown area. Will you support our efforts to transform this key street? Or will bicycle riders be relegated to a side street with no destination to ride by?

Despite being a street that traverses multiple neighborhoods, many businesses and other key destinations - this street is very people and bike unfriendly. We want University Avenue to be a show stopper. How much of a show stopper? We'd like to see more people out on University Avenue and turn University Avenue into a street that looks like this:

Rotterdam street scenes-9
A street in Rotterdam. Photo Jonathan Maus
Rotterdam street scenes-10
A street in Rotterdam. Photo Jonathan Maus
s-Hertogenbosch-81
A street in Rotterdam. Photo Jonathan Maus

What would it entail for University Avenue to get to cycle tracks like they have in Rotterdam and other world-class bicycling cities? It would mean living in a world where University Avenue has six (6) lanes for motor vehicles, but parking is removed in order to make space for a dedicated cycle track (see last row that is the unconstrained proposal):

Will Unive
Will University Avenue be a street that will make us all proud?

Earlier this year, SANDAG went to the trouble of bringing in Andreas Røhl, Bicycle Program Manager of City of Copenhagen (one of the world's best cities for bicycling). Copenhagen is one of many cities that has created a system where every single road works for bicycling. During Røhl's visit, he made many key points. One of his points: implement a bicycle network, all the way from A to B, "even where it hurts".

What does it look like to live in one of the world's most bicycle friendly cities? Streetfilms has a video to give you an idea:

Cycling Copenhagen, Through North American Eyes from Streetfilms on Vimeo.

We understand that removing parking is a painful and even a difficult proposition to consider. However, our elected officials have shown the leadership and said the right things needed to get this discussion going. Instead of being a source of embarrassment like the vocally loud in New York, San Francisco or Los Angeles have been, we as a city have an opportunity to make University Avenue into something that we can all be proud of. How wonderful it would be if we could unanimously support an effort to implement cycle tracks on University Avenue when other cities around the country are creeping along making something as simple as creating a people friendly city street a needlessly complicated process?

We look forward to seeing you all later this evening. Let's make University Avenue a street worth riding on.


First Mini CicloSDias: May 19th in Balboa Park's Marston Loop

Berliners crave what San Diegans have year round, now with added car-free spaces in the park

Let do what we do really well in San Diego on May 19th - enjoy our beautiful weather. The first of the many "mini" CicloSDias will happen on May 19th in the Marston Loop on the west side of Balboa Park along Balboa Drive. Below is a map of the route that will be open to everything but motor vehicles:

Marston Point Loop
Marston Point Loop

Below is the front of the flyer that the city is using to promote the event. To RSVP and invite everyone you know to the mini CicloSDias, visit our event page.

Mini CicloSDias Flyer
Mini CicloSDias Flyers

Sharrows have shown up on 30th Street. Todd Gloria's Office: Read the CA Vehicle Code on Meaning of Sharrow

Sharrow markings have shown up on 30th Street

Sharrows have shown up in District Three along 30th Street above Switzer Canyon. A whole year after Council President Todd Gloria requested the city to put them in:

 

Yesterday, Don Goyette wondered what was going on with the placement of the sharrows:

Do you have any idea what the idea is behind their placements? On 30th between Laurel and Olive, where they are not much needed since there are almost no parked cars and plenty room to ride free of traffic, they paint these things. But north to approx. Redwood with almost solid parked cars they leave blank. I ride that stretch often and get very tense past Olive trying to avoid opening car doors and speeding traffic.

What the heck are they thinking?

Board member Chris Taylor made some calls and responded:

Don, I had the exact same reaction to the sharrows as you did.  In fact, I think they are an affirmative problem the way they are placed because most drivers don't know that a sharrow represents the proper lane position for a cyclist - from my (extremely) informal survey, most drivers seem to think it is a signal that they should expect bikes in the road.  So, the City puts the sharrows in the wide section, over the canyon where there is plenty of room for everyone (even if cyclists aren't required to be on the shoulder, most (including me) go there when riding over Switzer) but then, when cyclists have to climb the hill into S.Park or the hill towards Redwood, the sharrows disappear - where we are slowing (because of the hill) and where the lanes get narrow because of the parked cars.  I could see motorists thinking that cyclists don't belong in the lane in those areas there because the sharrows disappeared.  I think the current placement (and, more importantly, disappearance) creates a real potential for conflict.

At any rate, I just got off the phone with Ed Clancy, the Mayor's bike czar (for lack of a better term).  I explained the issue.  He is going to look into it to see if they are done with the sharrows in that section or if they just didn't get it finished.  Stay tuned . . . .
Goyette expressed gratitude and made a request

Thank you, Chris.

I also would like to see a clear definition of the meaning of the sharrows very well publicized.  They started showing up a couple years ago and I've seen no official explication of their purpose in the media. A few years ago I'd have said a series of articles in the UT would do it, but of course nobody sees that any more (with very good reason). I suppose TV is the only mass media left.  Could Mr. Clancy get something out there?
We asked Dion Akers at Gloria's (District Three Councilmember) office about publicizing the purpose of a sharrow and he responded:

1. No PR Department here at the city.

2. Shared roadway markings, or “sharrows,” are contained within the California Vehicle Code, as far as I know. So folks should know about them.

3. We’ll also try to remind folks of these assets.

The city's 2011 bicycle master plan states this about sharrows:

Consider use of shared lane markings, also known as “Sharrows” to provide guidance to  bicyclists and motorists on roadways that are too narrow for Class II Bike Lanes

The plan goes on to state

Bike routes provide shared use with motor vehicle traffic within the same travel lane. Designated by  signs, Bike Routes provide continuity to other bike  facilities or designate preferred routes through  corridors with high demand. Whenever possible, Bike  Routes should be enhanced with treatments that  improve safety and connectivity, such as the use of  “Sharrows” or shared lane markings to delineate that  the road is a shared-use facility."

Update: The sharrows have inched its way up to Upas Street:


Mayor Filner Unveils Plan to Make Balboa Park a Park: Making Parts of it Car-Free

Balboa Park's Cabrillo Bridge would have no automobile traffic on weekends under the mayor's proposed plan. Photo: BikeSD Member Michael Brennan

Yesterday evening, the mayor presented his plan to prepare San Diego for the upcoming 2015 Centennial Celebration. His plan articulates an actual park like vision that builds on a discussion begun over three years ago that initially got us excited but then quickly devolved into a series of oddities which included a proposal to build a bypass bridge with a price tag of $45 million, along with the construction of a new parking garage, a stranger proposal by the local preservationist group to build an additional road, a lawsuit and some heated (and long) city council sessions.

After all that hubub and the judicial ruling stating that the council approved plan to build a bypass bridge was a non-starter, the mayor proposed a $500,000 plan last night that takes the Blackson Stepner plan and makes it even better by making the historic Cabrillo Bridge car-free on weekends. This plan also includes a car-free Plaza de Panama that was the original vision that got us excited to begin with.

And not unlike how other city leaders around the country have received public support for similar plans, Filner's proposal largely is temporary and can be implemented with minimal investment. We hope that this plan becomes permanent and we take this as a sign that it is part of the Mayor's larger plan to make this city more bike friendly. Inviting our friends and neighbors to visualize and experience San Diego's potential will be key to ensuring this plan's success. But the challenge remains: San Diego's streets aren't truly bike-friendly unless the cars disappear and this is another one of those steps to getting our city to be more bike friendly.

According to Paul Jamason, Council President Todd Gloria, whose district includes the city's jewel that is Balboa Park stated that he wanted to hear from his district about their support for the Mayor's plan:

We're very excited about the mayor's plan and encourage you to voice your support by emailing Council President Gloria at: toddgloria@sandiego.gov. Do copy us at talk@bikesd.org so we can track your support as well.

For more information about car-free spaces in world-class cities, watch the videos from Street Films.