2018: Hopefully a year of progress for bicyclists

In 2018, San Diego needs to take another step forward towards becoming a world class bicycling city. While the streets of San Diego have become increasingly bike-friendly, San Diego needs more than incremental changes to meet our safety and climate action goals. Below are a few of the initiatives we will be watching for improvements. If you have other suggestions, please contact us through email (talk@bikesd.org) or twitter (@bikesd).

2018 San Diego Bike Plan

Downtown Mobility Plan

The plan to redesign our auto-centric downtown area was approved in June 2016, but what city council passed was primarily a planning document. Will the final design reflect the world-class, high quality bikeway design that downtown deserves? City staff needs to resist the temptation to accommodate NIMBY street parking concerns that would compromise the bikeway quality and residents’ safety. We hope city staff will continue to work with bicycle advocates to ensure success.

San Diego Downtown Mobility Plan

SANDAG Early Action Programs

SANDAG approved 40 early projects throughout the county in 2013. The stated goal was for projects to be completed within 10 years. As KPBS recently highlighted, SANDAG has consistently postponed project timelines. If new bikeways can be installed in Manhattan in just one year, why do they take several times that in San Diego? In 2018, we will hopefully celebrate the groundbreaking for 1st segments of Uptown Bikeway and North Park-Mid City bikeways. 

Resurfacing & Repurpose

As the Mayor office fulfills his pledge to resurface streets, any street on the city’s bicycle plan should accommodate the facility specified in master plan. While efficient, this resurface/repurpose effort does not allow for a large network of bicycle infrastructure to be built. Also, road diets and the removal of parking require community approval beforehand. The city should remove this unnecessary layer of approval to implement its bicycle master plan and climate action plan (both approved unanimously by city council). While this layer of community approval is unnecessary, it reinforces the need for BikeSD supporters to join your local community planning group.

Community Plan Updates

Every community plan update has a mobility element. Many of San Diego community plans are outdated. BikeSD supporters should advocate for safe bicycling facilities in all community plans. If a bicycle facility is on an approved community plan, it will be easier to advocate for it in the future. Currently the city is working on Barrio Logan, Midway, Old Town, Kearny Mesa, Clairemont, and Mission Valley community plans. (Please let us know if we missed any!!!)

Bicycle Advisory Committee Strategic Implementation Plan

For the past couple of years, a group of appointed volunteers has worked with city staff on implementing the city’s bicycle master plan. As KPBS reported, the plan was delayed after bicycle advocates voiced concerns. City Council should approve an implementation plan that satisfies the advisory committees concerns. (As an aside, the bicycle advisory committee currently has opens positions, interested BikeSD supporters should contact their respective council district offices if interested in joining.)

Parking

We don’t believe the storage of private property on public streets is the best use of our precious space.  As of start of 2018, the city has not allowed any bicycle infrastructure that even removed 1 parking spot—even when abundant off-street parking exists. This needs to change! In fact, the city needs to implement a parking management strategy that is more than “more!!”  Start with Donald Shoup’s ideas.


Don’t forget to attend our next Bike San Diego Meetup!

 

When: March 6 at 6pm
Where: Iron Pig Alehouse (Pacific Beach)

 

We’ll be meeting on March 6 in Pacific Beach at Iron Pig Alehouse for an evening of community, conversation, and discussion of Community Planning Groups. Circulate San Diego will be joining BikeSD to discuss how residents can (and should) get involved in local planning groups to help create a world-class city for biking. Doors open at 6, we’ll have a presentation and panel discussion at 7, which will be followed up by a social hour.

RSVP